Chapter 25

Black drapes hung behind the staff table at the leaving feast that year, instead of the usual banners of the house that won the house cup, a mark of respect to Cedric Diggory. As Dumbledore made a brief speech about his death and asked them all to stand and raise their glasses in his memory, Harry looked over at the Hufflepuff table and saw Alex Stone crying silently. He'd been in the Hospital Wing for the past week and word had it he believed Cedric's death was his fault, that Cedric had died because Alex hadn't.

There were various rumours as to why he'd attempted to kill himself, but most predominant was bullying, particularly from a fifth year Hufflepuff who, Harry noticed, was being shunned by the rest of the house. He also realised that the fifth year and Alex were the same two boys he and Theo had interrupted in making out behind the bushes at the Yule Ball, and he remembered the look of relief on Alex's face when Harry and Theo had interrupted and wondered if it had had anything to do with the attempted suicide.

The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students were still with them at that point. The next day, as the Hogwarts students waited for the coaches that would take them down to Hogsmeade Station, the foreign students went among them, saying goodbye to new friends. To Harry's surprise, Fleur sought him out to congratulate him once more on winning the Tournament and kissed his cheeks goodbye. Perhaps not wanting to be shown up, Krum did the same, through without the kisses, and with minimal resentment, although it was clear he was still displeased about what had happened in the third task.

The trip home was warm and bright, and punctuated with the news that they would once again be remaining in England for the holiday. As long as the war continued, Gabriel and Lorna had to remain in England to help fight it, and there didn't seem to be an end in sight. Harry and Tori weren't pleased with this. Once had been fine, but they associated summer with trips away and they missed visiting France, Greece, and Italy. When no amount of begging, complaining, and sulking changed Gabriel and Lorna's minds, Tori demanded another visit from their friends. They agreed readily enough, until Harry said he was inviting Anita as well as Theo this time.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Lorna asked him bluntly at dinner, to which Harry emphatically answered, "No."

"Do you want her to be?" Gabriel asked.

"No. I'm not even interested in girls like that, I swear. Anyway, she's a lesbian."

That made his parents pause. They glanced briefly at Tori, then Lorna asked Harry, "Is Theo your boyfriend?"

Why did parents have to be so nosy?

"No. I'm not interested in boys like that either. I'm not interested in anyone like that."

"Alright," Gabriel said, "but we will of course need to meet Anita's mother, first."

Harry nodded and mentioned that he'd already said as much to Anita so his parents could write to her mother that night, but after the meal he followed Tori up to her room and asked, "Why did Mum and Dad look at you when I said Anita's a lesbian?"

Tori rolled her eyes as she took her violin case from the cupboard and put it on the desk. "Probably because I told them I was maybe bisexual so now they probably think I want to shag every girl and boy I see."

Her questioning her sexuality was news to Harry, but he was sure his parents didn't think that of her. "Maybe?"

"Yeah. It's complicated."

"How?"

"Because I don't want to shag girls."

"... but?" he prompted, sensing there was more to it.

"But..." she said slowly, now taking out her folder of sheet music and flicking through it, "I maybe want to... I don't know. Cuddle them and date them, but only with the lovey-dovey romantic stuff and none of the intense make out sessions."

"Oh," Harry said. He'd thought they went hand in hand, or that one led to the other; it never occurred to him that you could have them separately. "Well, if that's how you feel, that's okay. Isn't it? Is this why you broke up with Tyler again?"

"No, we just decided it wouldn't last over the summer. But what am I? I'm not bisexual because I'm not sexually attracted to girls, but I'm not completely straight either."

"Do you need a word for it?" He didn't feel the need to put a name to whatever he was, except 'not interested'.

"Yes," she said firmly picking a piece to play and setting it on the stand in one corner of the room. "I like words. I like having a name for what I am. There's a word for what you are—asexual—so why shouldn't there be one for me?"

"So make one up," he suggested.

She hummed, taking the violin from its case. "Biromantic? 'Cause I'm romantically interested in girls but not sexually interested."

He turned it over in his mind. "It fits. Like biromantic but heterosexual?"

She beamed. "Yes! That's perfect!"

She looked so pleased that he couldn't help grinning back, and left her to her music practice.

Anita's mother refused to even come visit herself, let alone let Anita stay for a week, so Harry got a ranting letter from Anita complaining about overly judgemental and stupid parents. Mrs Darzi's issue was more to do with Harry than vampires—she didn't think teenagers should spend nights in the same house as teenagers of the opposite sex, and Anita wasn't about to out herself to her homophobic mother just to be able to visit Harry.

So Harry expected only Theo to turn up along with Lisa and Padma on the twenty-first of July, but instead of the Knight Bus, an owl arrived that morning with a letter for him. It was short and curt, beginning without even a token greeting.

At my father's behest, I am breaking off all communication with you and will not be coming to your home today, or ever again. You are a bad influence and I have seen the error of my ways. Do not attempt to contact me in future.

Theodore

He read it with a growing frown then immediately went to Gabriel's study, placing the letter down on the desk before him.

"I think something's wrong with Theo. That's his handwriting, but he wouldn't do this and he never uses his full name and he doesn't use words like 'behest'."

Gabriel took the letter and read it over, a frown marring his own face.

"I think his dad abuses him," Harry added quietly.

Gabriel sighed. "I did get the impression he was an unpleasant man when I met him," he admitted. "I will send someone to go and investigate."

"Today?"

"Immediately."

Gareth didn't bother knocking on the door of the Nott home. He knew Frederick Nott, knew exactly how vile he could be to his wife and children, and he blamed himself a little for whatever had happened to Theo in the past few days or weeks. Threats, subtle or otherwise, worked for most of the other handful of parents that Gareth knew to be abusive or neglectful who he'd visited last summer, but Frederick Nott was a smug, self-confident git with high connections in the Ministry that he believed would protect him from any accusations of child abuse.

The trouble was, he wasn't completely wrong and he wouldn't ever see the error of his ways, so Gareth had gone a little further and used some magic to force Frederick into leaving his son alone the previous summer. Only a bit, because too much tended to travel into dark magic territory and that was a slippery slope he was trying to avoid, but that had clearly been an error on Gareth's part. He hadn't expected it to wear off, and he'd be visiting all the others parents after he was done here to make sure they didn't forget he was looking out for their kids.

So he forced his way into the house, disarmed, stunned, and bound Frederick with just a flick of his hand, and hurried upstairs. Theo's bedroom was easy to find—it was the only one with a padlock on the outside. It sprung open at a touch of his finger and he entered the room. Theo was curled on his bed, laying on his side, stripped to the waist with his back to Gareth. It was a mess of lash marks, old scars just visible beneath the fresh wounds. They were no more than twelve hours old, at Gareth's estimate.

"Don't move, Theo," Gareth said gently when Theo started to sit up. He went over, leaning over to inspect Theo's front. There were a few more lashes across his chest, two darkening bruises on his face, and his left eye was swollen shut.

"What are you doing here, sir?" There was obvious bitterness in his voice, shame at being discovered like this.

"Helping you. Belt or Whipping Hex?"

"Whipping Hex," Theo muttered, not meeting Gareth's gaze. "Said it hurts more."

Gareth dug in his pockets. "Depends who's wielding it."

"Speaking from experience, sir?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yes." He removed a vial and a handkerchief from his pocket. "This is a healing potion. Do you mind lying on your front while I apply it?"

Theo nodded and rolled over.

"This will sting," Gareth warned, soaking the handkerchief before wiping it carefully over the fresh wounds. Theo tensed and sucked in a sharp breath, but otherwise withstood the sting of the healing potion without complaint. It cleaned the wounds and sealed them up, making them look a few days old.

"Why'd you come here, sir? Where's my father?"

"Downstairs, tied up. The letter you sent to Harry made him suspicious. He showed his father, who asked me to look in on you."

"Why would he do that?"

"I'm a friend of the family. Sit up now. Wipe the rest and drink this."

He handed over the kerchief for Theo to wipe at the few lashes across his front while he dug out a pain reliever, which the boy drank down gratefully, instantly relaxing as the potion did its work. Gareth handed over a jar of bruise paste that Theo dabbed onto his face then left him to dress fully while he went back downstairs. Frederick was still where Gareth left him, tied up at the foot of the sofa in the living room, and Gareth dropped into an armchair, watching him until Theo came down. The bruises on his face were already fading to yellow.

"What happens now, sir?"

"Now it occurs to me that I should perhaps have bought some sort of official representative with me. I suppose we could call one now."

"Or...?"

Gareth glanced at him. Theo was staring at his father was open hatred, but at Gareth's silence he looked over.

"You came prepared. You knew I'd be injured. You're the one that came to see him last summer, as well, weren't you?"

"Was I?"

Theo's lips twitched up slightly, but all he said was, "You didn't seem too keen on calling the authorities."

"No, I suppose not," Gareth admitted. "Issues with authority. What do you want to do?"

Theo shrugged, but the hateful look he gave the unconscious man betrayed his true feelings even as he answered, "There'll be questions if... something happened to him."

"You don't want to call the authorities either?"

"I'd have to testify, wouldn't I? Stand up in a court and get questioned about everything."

"You don't want to do that?"

Theo gave a half-shrug. "I don't want my life picked apart," he said quietly.

"Theo, for fear of sounding condescending, do you understand that everything he did wasn't your fault?"

"You're right, that was condescending."

"That's not an answer."

"Of course I know it," Theo snapped, but didn't meet his gaze. "It's not like I asked him to beat me."

"No, but I know his type. He'd have blamed you, said you brought it on yourself, that you made him do it." He paused and Theo's silence was all the confirmation he needed. "He lied, Theo. You are not to blame for any of it. He was a cruel man and nothing you did could change that."

"What's going to happen to me now, sir?" Theo asked by way of response. "Where do I go?"

Gareth let it drop for now, but made a note to get some information leaflets about St Mungo's outpatient psychiatric department and, when school started, make sure a fresh poster was put up on the Slytherin noticeboard about the counsellor that came into the school once a week for students to talk to. People like Theo responded better to subtle suggestions than outright ideas.

"What's your sister like these days?"

"Sir?"

"She drink?"

"Lots of people drink," Theo answered diplomatically.

"Lots of people drink in excess," Gareth replied. "I think your sister is one of them. You can't live alone, Theo, but I can't just hand you from one unfit guardian to another, even if it's a different kind of unfit, you understand." He could almost see Theo biting back the words 'I'm fifteen, I'm not a child anymore'. "You don't have any other family, correct?"

"I have a second cousin in Essex."

"Fancy living with them?"

"Not really. They're a squib."

"Hmm." He stared at Frederick. "You believe in tit for tat, Theo?"

"Sir?"

"Give and take. Nothing for free. That sort of thing."

"Yes."

"So you're probably trying to figure out how to balance out my aid today."

Theo shuffled his feet. "Yes."

"You'll give me your silence. I saw your bag is still packed for a visit to the Valentines; I'll take you there, you'll spend the week, as planned, and you'll probably get a letter or a visit from the Ministry before the week's up. I promise you'll never have to live with your father again, but don't ask too many questions about the whys and hows and we'll be square."

"Are you going to kill him?"

Gareth stood up. "What did I just say about questions?"

"Not to ask too many, sir. That's why I'm only asking one," he answered innocently. "I'll keep my silence."

Gareth snorted. "Go get your bag, Theo."

On the second night of his stay, Theo slipped from the bedroom he was sleeping in alone and across the hall to Harry's, waving a bag of weed at him questioningly.

"My parents will flip if they catch me," Harry said.

"Is that a no?"

Harry glanced at the door, then grinned, grabbed his wand, and put up a charm to keep the room sound- and scent-proofed. They didn't talk as Theo rolled the joint and lit it, letting themselves relax with the first hit. They'd both been tense with each other for the past day and a half since Theo arrived at Lynott Manor. Theo was too conscious of the fact that Harry now knew for a fact that life at home was bad for him, despite his efforts over the years to act like everything was fine; and Harry had questions he wanted answering, but didn't know how to ask them or whether he'd be rebuffed for doing so.

The weed put them both at ease. They kept to safe topics at first—school and their classmates, Harry's holiday and home, Theo wondering at Harry's fascination with butterflies when he conjured a swarm ("I like them, they're pretty")—but eventually, as they moved onto a second joint, Harry asked, "Y'know that letter your dad made you send me—what did it mean when you called me a bad influence?"

Theo didn't look up, lighting the joint and inhaling deeply before handing it over. He lay down on his front—his injuries were still tender—and closed his eyes, cheek pressed into Harry's soft carpet.

"Goyle's dad told him about the rumour that we're going out. He thought you're trying to turn me queer."

"That's not fair," Harry grumbled, taking a drag of his own then laying down on his back beside Theo. "Maybe you're turning me queer."

Theo opened one eye. "Am I?"

"No. I'm not queer, unless queer also means you don't fancy people."

"Not sure," Theo admitted, closing the eye again. "There's a word for it, though. I looked. Asexual."

"I know, Tori told me. I don't really care what it's called."

Theo waved his hand until Harry gave him the joint. "Me neither. I just like knowing these things."

"You like knowing everything."

"Yeah."

They fell into a companionable silence, but it was brief. Even with his eyes closed again, Theo could feel Harry's gaze on him.

"What did he do to you?"

The question was quiet, hesitant, almost apologetic. Theo considered not answering, but weed always made him talkative and he knew that Harry deserved to know.

"He beat me. Nothing new there, except it was worse than usual. He locked me in my bedroom, too."

Harry took the joint from him and his other hand found Theo's, intertwining their fingers. "I'm sorry, Theo."

"Why? It's not your fault."

"He did it because of that rumour about us. It's kind of—"

"No, it's not," Theo interrupted. "You didn't start that rumour. My father's just a bastard."

"Why didn't you ever run away?"

"I did, before third year. He found me and dragged me back. It's the only time I ever wished I was Muggleborn; their parents can't do tracking spells if they run away from home."

Harry said nothing to that, just squeezed his hand. Theo squeezed back.

"It doesn't matter. I'm never going back there."

"Where are you going to go?"

"I don't know. My sister's maybe."

"Didn't you say she's an alcoholic?"

"Better that than my dad."

"What's going to happen to him? Is he getting arrested for attacking you?"

"I don't know," Theo sighed. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"'kay," Harry murmured. He let go of Theo's hand and rolled onto his side, pressing against the other boy and slinging an arm over his back. Theo stiffened then hoped Harry didn't notice, but he drew his arm away again. "Sorry. Did I hit an injury?"

Theo attempted a nonchalant shrug, keeping his eyes shut. "It's fine. It's not that bad."

"Can I see?"

His eyes flew open then. Harry's face was only inches from his own, but rather than pity there was just dopey curiosity. "What for?"

"I dunno. You don't have to. I'll show you mine if you like."

"I see yours every time I see you," Theo pointed out.

"Not the one's on my back. Or my legs."

Theo blinked, surprised. He knew Harry had to have scarred legs, from the burning he suffered in their first year, although he'd never seen them, but he didn't know about his back. "I didn't know you had any on your back. What...?"

"The werewolf. I don't like people seeing them."

Obviously. Theo knew himself the effort it took to hide his scars from their roommates for four years, changing quickly while the dorm was empty, or in the bathroom hid behind a shower curtain or toilet door. He'd always been so focused on himself that he'd never noticed Harry doing it, too. He was curious now, his inherent thirst for knowledge wanting to see the marks on Harry's back, even if it meant showing his own.

"Alright," he agreed, sitting up and putting his back to Harry, but still hesitantly lifting his over-large sleep shirt up to his shoulders. He heard Harry sit up as well, looking over the mess of old and new scars littering his skin. He tensed again when fingers brushed lightly over them, but it didn't hurt and he gradually relaxed as Harry's fingers trailed softly over the pink and white tissue, skirting the new wounds that was still healing.

"This is why you never come swimming, isn't it?" He nodded. Harry's hand fell away and he let his shirt drop back down. "I can put a charm on them for you if you want."

He shrugged, turning to face Harry. "I don't care much for swimming anyway. Your turn."

Harry turned, pulling his shirt all the way off. While Theo's scars were a mess of smaller marks, a mosaic made from each lash of his father's Whipping Hex, Harry's were eight huge gouges, four running from his right shoulder to his left hip, the other four almost straight across the middle of his back from his left side to just past his spine.

"Why do you hide these but not the one's on your face?" he asked, trailing his fingers along the longest four. Harry didn't tense, just shivered slightly at the feather light touch.

"Mum and Dad say I'm not allowed to hide the ones on my face. They didn't want me to get used to not seeing them and grow to hate my own face. It's different with my back, I guess."

Theo hummed an agreement, though he didn't really understand. He hated his own scars, but maybe it was just that he hated how they got there. Getting mauled by a werewolf was different than getting the shit beat out of you by your own father.

A gentle knock at the door made him jerk his hand down. Harry looked around, wide-eyed.

"Uh... who is it?"

"Me and Lisa," Tori's voice said. Padma hadn't come this year; the Patils were in India for the summer visiting a dying grandmother. "Can we come in?"

Harry relaxed. "Yeah."

The door handle rattled, but he'd locked it and had to dig his wand out from where it'd rolled under the bed before he could let them in. The girls stopped just inside the door, Lisa sniffing curiously and Tori fixing her gaze on the joint Harry still held.

"Harry!"

"What?"

"You're smoking!"

"No, I'm not. It's weed, not cigarettes."

Lisa snorted and Theo rolled his eyes.

"You're high as a kite, aren't you?" Tori said, frowning. "Mum and Dad'll flip if they find out."

"So close the door before they do," Theo said. "What did you want, anyway?"

"We were going to invite you to come have a late swim," Lisa answered, nudging the door shut, "but it looks like you guys found something more fun to do. You're going to share, right?"

"In exchange for what?" Theo asked.

"Not telling Lord and Lady Valentine you're smoking pot."

Theo sighed and took the joint from Harry, holding it out. Lisa skipped over and took it from him, sitting down as she took a drag. Tori watched, still frowning.

"Don't be a stick in the mud, Tori," Theo said.

"I'd like to keep my brain cells, thanks."

"Pot doesn't kill brain cells."

"Says you."

"Yeah, says me who's been smoking it for years and still has the fifth highest marks in our year."

"Yeah, well," Tori grumbled. "I'm not interested. I've got the third highest marks in the year and I want to keep it that way."

"You can get us snacks then," Theo suggested and, at her raised eyebrows, added, "Please."

"Oooh," Harry said, perking up. "Yes, pretty please, Tori. We forgot food. See if we have cookies."

She sighed but agreed and vanished. Lisa passed the joint back to Theo then looked curiously at Harry, who'd caught a butterfly on his finger and was watching it intently.

"Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

Harry looked down as if surprised at this then dislodged the butterfly and scrambled around for his shirt, pulling it on again. Lisa noticed his back as he did, her eyes widening at the sight of the scars, but she said nothing. When she caught Theo's eye, he mouthed 'werewolf' and she gave a brief nod. Harry missed it all.

Clearing her throat and clearly keen to focus on something else, Lisa said, "Either of you ever shotgunned?"

Theo shook his head. Harry asked, "What's that?"

Theo paused with the joint half raised to his mouth and shot Lisa a questioning glance. She looked him over, shrugged, grinned, and nodded. As Theo took a drag of the joint, she shifted closer and said to Harry, "This is shotgunning."

Theo put a hand to the back of her head as she leant into him, steadying her, and blew the smoke into her open mouth as she inhaled. She closed her mouth on it and stole a quick kiss from him before pulling away. Theo glanced at Harry, who was watching them open mouthed. He snapped it shut at their look.

"I want to try."

"With who?" Lisa asked.

"Theo," Harry said as if that should be obvious. Theo handed him the joint and pretended not to notice the somewhat voyeuristic look on Lisa's face as she watched them lean together and exchange smoke. Theo started to pull away after, but Harry seemed to think the kiss was part of it and pressed his mouth to Theo's, firmer and for longer than Lisa had.

"Jesus Christ, I leave for two minutes and this is what I come back to?"

Theo and Harry broke apart, Harry flushing, Theo merely stealing the joint back to take one last drag before passing it to Lisa to finish off. Tori shut the door with her foot and came over, sitting down and dumping a load of snacks on the floor, along with a bottle of wine.

"We were just shotgunning," Theo said whilst Harry snatched up a pack of cookies and eagerly tore into them.

"Is that some new word for kissing? 'Cause that's what it looked like to me."

"Shotgunning is blowing the smoke from one person to another," Lisa explained. "Kissing is optional, but I think Harry liked it."

"I like kissing," Harry agreed around a mouthful of cookie. "So does Theo."

"Kindly not in front of me," Tori said. "You complained about me doing it. Open this for me."

Harry mumbled an agreement and touched his wand to the wine bottle to open it for her. She took a swig then passed it to Lisa, who was making 'gimme' gestures with her hand.

"Thought you didn't want to destroy your brain cells," Theo said to Tori, taking a large Dairy Milk from the pile of snacks.

"It's just a bit of wine, and I don't want to be left out of the fun. I'm not a stick in the mud."

Harry didn't remember falling asleep, but he woke up on the floor with Theo using his stomach as a pillow and his toes prodding Lisa in the nose. He felt an unusual surge of affection for Theo; he was, Harry thought, kind of cute while he slept, even if it was with his mouth open and drooling on Harry's stomach.

Tori had commandeered his bed, but this came secondary to the fact that the next thing he noticed was both his parents standing just inside the door of his bedroom. He nudged Theo, who woke up in an instant, and accidentally kicked Lisa in the face, which woke her up but left her grumbling. Tori pulled the covers over her head. Hyper aware of the fact that his bedroom still stank of weed and that the nearly empty wine bottle was on the floor by the bed, Harry sat up and tried to subtly slide his tobacco tin behind Lego Hogwarts, in which he noticed Samantha was sleeping, though he wasn't sure when she'd got out of her terrarium.

"Morning, Mum, Dad."

Lorna had a hand on her hip and Gabriel's arms were folded over his chest. They were both frowning.

"We have three questions for you," Gabriel said. "Your answers to those will affect our reaction to this... scenario. Question one: did any of you have sex?"

"DAD!" Tori cried, jerking the covers down and sitting up to glare at him. He glared back.

"I will not be impressed if you end up pregnant because of poor decisions fuelled by drink and drugs, especially not while you're under MY roof. I expect Mr and Mrs Turpin wouldn't be happy either."

"Oh my god," she groaned, flopping back down and pulling a pillow over her head. "As if Harry or I want have sex in front of each other!"

Gabriel conceded her point with a nod. "Did you go elsewhere to do it?"

"None of us had sex," Harry assured them, face bright red and eyes unable to meet anyone else's. Next to him, Theo was tense, staring at the carpet.

"Glad to hear it. Question two: where did you get the drugs?"

There was a terse silence. Harry didn't look at Theo, who didn't shift his eyes from the carpet.

"Let me rephrase that for you," Lorna said. "Did you get drugs from any of the nest vampires?"

"No," Harry answered honestly, and hoped they wouldn't ask where they did get it. He wasn't bad at dodging his parents questions with half-truths, but his ignorance of where Theo did get the weed meant he wouldn't be able to avoid outright lying and the vampires were usually pretty good at realising when he did that.

Fortunately, Gabriel's next questions was, "Question three: where did you get that wine?"

"I stole it from the kitchen," Tori admitted.

Gabriel sighed. "Theo, Lisa, please excuse us, we need to have a word with Harry and Tori. Also, Theo, your sister and someone from the Ministry's Department of Family and Child Services is here to see you. Edward will escort you down when you're dressed."

The two guests were quick to leave, Theo looking concerned. Harry and Tori eyed their parents warily as Lorna took a seat at Harry's desk and Gabriel stood by her.

"Is this the first time you've taken drugs?" Lorna asked them.

Harry hesitated to answer. Tori didn't. "I didn't smoke any," she said. Her tone was slightly defensive, but it wasn't the tone of trying to foist the blame onto Harry. Nevertheless, Harry felt that the words alone made him seem like a recalcitrant druggie and she the goody two shoes.

"I didn't have any of the wine," he said.

"But you've smoked pot before," Lorna said.

It wasn't a question. "Yes," he muttered. "But only once."

"You will not again," Gabriel said, his tone not to be argued with. "We understand that, as teenagers, you want to experiment with these things, and you have done so. Leave it at that."

Harry wondered if it was being a teenager that made him instantly want to smoke some more, just to be rebellious. Gabriel didn't have to sound so condescending about it all. Why couldn't they just yell at him for it?

Lorna put a hand over the one of Gabriel's that was on her shoulder. "We just want to look out for you both. You've got bright futures ahead of you; we would hate to see it ruined by something stupid like this. Especially you, Harry," she said, focusing on him. He avoided her gaze. There was nothing like the phrase 'bright futures ahead' to remind him that his future was in the pits of hell and drawing ever closer. "You've had problems with addiction before—not your fault, we know," she said quickly when he opened his mouth angrily, "but regardless these things can have an effect. So please, Harry, leave the drugs alone, even something as seemingly harmless as marijuana."

"Yes, Mum."

She nodded and her and Gabriel's attention turned to Tori. "As for the drink—"

"It's no worse than Harry smoking pot!" she cried.

"Harry didn't steal it," Gabriel retorted, and Tori glanced away, chided. "We accept that you're both old enough to handle some alcohol, but we'll not have you stealing it, even from our own kitchens. We will provide a reasonable amount for you to share with your friends, if that's what you want, but we're not having you helping yourself and drinking to excess."

"It was one bottle of wine," Tori said defensively, "and we didn't even finish it."

"For which we're glad, but next time you might not stop at that."

Tori opened her mouth, changed her mind, and snapped it shut without saying something.

"I am being reasonable, Tori," Gabriel said, voice softening slightly. "You may drink, but you'll accept that your mother and I have the right to restrict how much. We will not be unfair in the matter."

Tori grumbled under her breath a bit, but eventually sighed. "Yeah. Fine. I guess."

"Thank you. You may go back to your own room now."

Harry watched her go then looked back to his parents. "Am I in trouble for something else?"

In answer, Gabriel went over to Lego Hogwarts, crouched, and picked up the tobacco tin. He opened it, tipped out the contents onto his hand, then held out the tin, but didn't let go when Harry reached for it.

"This is a bad habit, Harry. You know that."

"Yeah."

"So why do you do it?"

He shrugged. Gabriel sighed and let go of the tin. "Do you have any more weed stashed away somewhere?"

"No," he answered honestly. Gabriel scanned his face and Harry knew he was listening carefully to Harry's heart and scenting the air for a sudden outburst of sweat, searching for any sign of lying. If he realised that Harry had never been the one to get the drugs in the first place, he didn't say so.

Lorna came over to crouch before him. "We're not angry with you, Harry. We just don't want to see you ruined by a bad habit. If you choose to become a vampire, you can smoke all you like, but while you're human it will do you a great harm. We don't want that."

"I know. I'm sorry."

She smiled and kissed his forehead. "We love you, Harry. And if you need help with giving up smoking, you can ask us. We can get you nicotine patches or whatever you need."

He nodded and gave her a weak smile. She kissed him again and Gabriel ruffled his hair before they both left. When the door shut behind them, Harry lay down with a groan. No cigarettes! And damned if he was going to use nicotine patches or something. They were for pansies. Well, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. It wasn't like he was addicted to them, anyway. It was just something he'd done because... well, because Theo did and Harry figured why the hell not? He would be fine going without.

Remembering Theo, he got up and dressed then hurried downstairs. The doors to the drawing room were shut, but when he pressed his ear to them, Gabriel caught him and pulled him away. The doors were too thick even for Harry's elevated hearing to make out anything without being up against them, but Harry knew Gabriel could probably hear every word perfectly clearly. It was typical; the rules he laid down never seemed to apply to Gabriel himself.

"Don't be rude. If Theo wants you to know what's happening, he'll tell you."

"Are they going to take him away? He's meant to stay for a whole week."

"I don't know. It's up to Theo and his sister."

Harry frowned at that. He didn't want Theo to leave early. "Do you know what happened to his father?"

"Only that he's been arrested for fraud, embezzlement, and tax evasion."

"Not for hurting Theo?"

"That's what I was told."

"That's not fair!"

"Life often isn't, I'm afraid," Gabriel told him then looked around when the drawing room door opened and a worn-looking middle-aged woman stepped out.

"Ah, Lord Valentine, could you please join us? And your wife, if she's available."

Gabriel nodded and sent Harry to fetch Lorna. He did so and hung about outside for half an hour until the doors opened again and everyone came out. The woman from before gave Harry a brief, polite smile as Edward escorted her to the door, but Harry focused on Theo. He looked a little concerned, but not upset or anything.

There was another woman with them and Harry had to assume this was Theo's sister. Harry knew she was in her mid-twenties, but she looked older, tired and bleary-eyed. Like Theo, she was thin and pale with light brown hair, but it hung stringy and dry past her shoulders, limp and uncared for, and there was a lingering scent of stale beer around her. She caught Harry's eye and gave a weak smile.

"Miss Nott," Gabriel said, "this is my son, Harry. Harry, Hayleigh Nott."

"Nice to meet you," Hayleigh said, shaking his hand when he held it out. She had a weak grasp and let go quickly, glancing at the Valentines and then Theo and clearing her throat. "I should get home. I have... things... to do. It's been nice to meet you, your lordship. Thank you for your aid."

Gabriel dropped his head in a slight bow. Hayleigh dipped a shaky curtsy to them then she and Theo walked across the hall to the front door. They exchanged a few words then Hayleigh left and Theo came back over. He stood straight and looked directly at Gabriel.

"Thank you, Lord and Lady Valentine, for your assistance."

"Anything for a friend of Harry's."

Harry looked between them, wondering what assistance his parents had given Theo but unsure if it was alright for him to ask. Fortunately, Theo turned his attention to Harry then and explained, "My father's been arrested for... screwing over the Ministry of Magic, basically, and I can't go home. I... don't really want to stay with my sister, so your parents said—" he glanced nervously at the Valentines then hopefully at Harry "—I can stay here for the rest of the summer. If... if you don't mind."

"Me?"

"We want to make sure you're comfortable with it," Lorna said, squeezing his shoulder.

Harry looked at Theo, who was watching him with cautious hope, and grinned. "I definitely don't mind."

Gareth was woken by a kiss, which was a pretty good way to start the day in his opinion. He kissed back without opening his eyes, humming appreciatively and squirming closer to the kisser, which made them laugh, which in turn made him whimper unhappily because it meant the kissing stopped.

"I'll take that to mean you're alright."

Opening his eyes, Gareth looked into Lupin's smiling face, disappointed to realise the other man was above the covers instead of under them. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"It's almost ten and you haven't got up yet."

"It's the summer; I'm allowed to sleep in."

"I know," Lupin said, still smiling, "but it's still unusual. I'm normally the one still in bed when you're up."

"Then get back in bed and we'll rectify things."

"I'm sort of in bed."

"No, you're on the bed, there's a difference. Namely: it's harder for me to get my hands under your clothes."

"You have a one track mind, I swear," Lupin muttered, but kissed him again. Gareth kicked away the covers and tugged at the other man until he lay over Gareth, never once breaking the kiss, hands working their way under Lupin's shirt. Having slept naked, Gareth had no clothes in the way and he sighed happily as Lupin's fingers brushed against his skin, tilting his head back to let Lupin press kisses along his jawline and down his throat.

Tap tap tap.

Gareth sighed again, less happily this time, and turned his head to the window as Lupin did the same. An owl fluttered outside, persistently pecking at the glass with the attitude of a bird not willing to be ignored. Lupin left the bed to let it in and take the letter from it, and it flew off again straight afterwards.

"It's for you," Lupin said, glancing over it. "From Hogwarts."

Gareth blew a raspberry, earning a faintly amused look from Lupin as he returned to the bed and handed the letter over.

"I thought you liked your job."

"I love my job, but I also love my summer holiday when I shouldn't have to think about my job."

But he shifted up to lean against the headboard as he opened the letter, Lupin laying beside him and drawing swirls across his bare stomach with his fingers.

"Anything important?"

"Eh. Albus wants to see me."

"Now?"

"'At your earliest possible convenience', which means today but not necessarily right now."

"Oh good," Lupin said, hand moving lower and head dipping to kiss Gareth's chest.

"And you say I have a one track mind."

"You do," Lupin murmured against his skin. "You pulled me onto it when you made me fall in love with you."

Gareth carelessly tossed the letter aside, grinning. "I didn't make you do anything, but I have no regrets. And I love you, too."

Several hours later he turned up at Hogwarts, where the Bloody Baron informed him that Dumbledore was walking by the lake, and Gareth went to join him, humming cheerfully.

"You're in a good mood today," Dumbledore greeted, smiling warmly.

"The sun is shining and life is good."

"I'm glad to hear it. How's Remus?"

"Remus is wonderful."

Dumbledore chuckled. "I almost don't want to discuss what I have to with you."

"Theodore Nott?"

Dumbledore nodded. "I am concerned about his placement with the Valentines."

"Why?" Gareth asked, a little harshly.

Dumbledore ignored his tone. "Would he not be better with his sister?"

"Hayleigh Nott is an alcoholic and has been since before she graduated from here. She may be his official guardian with his father under arrest, but as far as caring for him goes, he's better off with the Valentines for the summer."

Dumbledore frowned unhappily. "I do recall several instances of Miss Nott being found with alcohol, and Severus did express concern about her. I believe he filed several complaints about Frederick with the Department of Family and Child Services, but nothing came of it. I wish we could have done more for her, and for Theodore."

Gareth snorted. "Of course not; the man bribed and blackmailed his way out of everything."

"He doesn't seem able to do so with the fraud charges laid against him right now, nor to regain custody of his son."

"Given that I hear he doesn't have enough money left to even pay his bail, it's no surprise he's out of bribe money as well."

Dumbledore glanced at him sidelong. "The discovery of his actions was very sudden. Herbert Duster from Revenue and Customs says they were led by an anonymous tip."

"How fortunate for them."

"What did you do, Gareth?"

Gareth didn't answer immediately. There was no point in a straight denial; Dumbledore had to know it would be a lie and Gareth respected him enough not to insult him like that, but he wasn't about to admit that he'd falsified evidence. Not that Frederick Nott hadn't been swindling money, but he'd done a damn good job of covering up; all Gareth did was create enough documents to prove it.

Eventually he settled for answering, "I made sure one of my students didn't have to put up with an abusive father any longer."

"Why not report him for abuse? Why fraud and tax evasion?"

"Because he had the money and means to avoid abuse charges!" Gareth snapped, temper flaring. "Just like he avoided and hushed up the investigation into his wife's murder."

"Her death was ruled acc-"

"It was bullshit! Frederick killed his wife, I'm almost certain of it. I know him, Dumbledore," he said, voice dropping to an angry growl, fists clenching at his sides. "Not just his sort but him. You know how I told you that some people change between my timelines, and some people don't? Well he doesn't, not ever. He rapes his wife, beats his children, and readily commits murder, and he can bribe, blackmail, and threaten his way out of everything better than Lucius."

They stopped walking, Gareth staring furiously across the water while Dumbledore watched him.

"I could make him suffer," Gareth said quietly. "I have the power to change people's minds to greater degrees than the Imperius or anything like it. I can slip into their thoughts and twist them however I like, and I'll admit that I've done it before. Many times I've done it for 'good' reasons, reasons like this—making the Wizengamot convict a man for crimes of which they have little evidence, making Voldemort believe raising cats is a better idea that committing genocide, making Severus raise Harry full time after the Potters die..."

He saw Dumbledore's hard expression and smiled faintly. "But yes, I can make good people do bad things as well. It's a slippery slope and my shoes don't have much grip. I'm capable of terrible things, Albus, so I like to avoid doing questionable actions for the sake of 'good', because I know where it leads. I can't make Frederick Nott pay for everything he's done without serious intervention on my part, and you said yourself that I shouldn't overreach myself. I'm the only one that can stop myself crossing too many lines, Albus; sometimes that means not crossing the early ones."

Dumbledore sighed heavily, turning away from him to look across the lake. "I understand," he said softly. "I know the lure of making excuses for one's actions, and the evil of one man cannot be undone even by the well intentioned evil of another."

"Are you going to fire me?"

Dumbledore started, looking at him in surprise. "Why would I do that?"

"I've just told you that I can, and in the past have, manipulated people in ways even the Imperius can't. I wouldn't blame you if you lost trust in me."

"I cannot deny that it concerns me to learn you're capable of such things, but you have never given me reason to distrust you, Gareth. You're a good teacher. I don't want to fire you." He paused, then went on, "But Frederick has no money any longer; he could be charged for abuse as well?"

"Why? To put Theo through the stress and difficulty of a trial? Frederick's going to prison for a long time, I'd bet my life on that, and Theo turns seventeen in little more than a year and a month. He's staying with the Valentines this summer, we have a year to make arrangements for next summer, and after that he's officially an adult. He doesn't have to see his father ever again."

"But justice—"

"Is up to him. I'm going to make sure he has the chance to talk to someone about this, Albus, but pressing charges is his choice. He's nearly sixteen; no one can force him to at this stage of his life."

"He must want to."

Gareth shrugged. "Some do take comfort from seeing their abuser charged and imprisoned, once the stress of the trial is over, but some of them just want the pain to stop and to never see their abuser again, to move on with their life. It's not our place to decide which choice is better for them."

Gabriel and Lorna said that they couldn't forbid Theo to smoke, not being his official guardians, but they did insist he not do it in the house and they forbade him from giving any to Harry, a rule he obeyed despite Harry's insistence that his parents would never find out.

Determined as Harry was to prove he wasn't an addict and could manage just fine without smoking—and he was, really he was; no his recent irritability, trouble sleeping, and increased appetite had nothing to do with nicotine withdrawal, thankyouverymuch—Harry nevertheless took advantage of the fact that no one could stop him hanging out with Theo while Theo smoked, and did manage to convince Theo to share a little smoke through shotgunning.

Their Hogwarts letters came in mid-August, including Theo's, and held a surprise for all of them: Theo and Tori were made prefects, and Harry had a permission slip for a Muggle Studies field trip and had been named captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team.

"The seventh years aren't going to be happy, especially Bletchley," Theo said, and Harry's grin fell as he looked up from his green and silver badge.

"Oh god, you're right. They're going to think they deserve it." He frowned. "I wonder why Professor Martin picked me instead."

"Probably so he doesn't need to pick someone new next year," Theo pointed out. "You can head it up for the next three years and make us unbeatable."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, forcing a smile. The next two years, maybe. He felt like everyone was picking on his non-existent future these days. Maybe he should get back to researching demon deals, but he didn't really want to. Everything he'd looked at so far said that it was impossible to avoid paying the debt, and if he was going to die then he didn't want to waste his last two and a half years of life reading ancient books, scrolls, and journals searching for something that didn't exist. There had to be better ways of spending his time.

It made school redundant, too, he had to admit. He'd never live to sit his NEWTs; was there even any point in returning to Hogwarts after this year? Maybe he should just sit his OWLs and then find something else to do for the last eighteen months. He'd ask Anita about her plans; she was even more ready to accept their deaths than he was, so she must have already put thought into the final years of their lives.

Rather than take a trip to London purely for their school supplies, all of them went down to London a few days before the start of term to spend it in the town house and Jennifer shadowed Harry, Tori, and Theo to Diagon Alley, the latter unaware of the trailing presence of the Valentines' daylight guardian. Harry and Tori had argued heavily with Gabriel and Lorna to not have Jennifer accompany them in the open; they were fifteen and perfectly capable of going round Diagon Alley by themselves.

Harry was especially embarrassed by the idea of being escorted. He'd had a growth spurt that shot him to nearly five foot eight—still shorter than Theo by more than an inch, but after a childhood of being among the smallest of his age group, this growth delighted him—and he'd noticed he was starting to get hair on his lower face. Not enough to warrant shaving just yet, but enough to make him feel definitely grown up enough to not need a daylight guardian.

On the trip back to Hogwarts, Harry spent most of the time with Anita and Neville Longbottom while Tori and Theo were off in the prefects' carriage. To no one's surprise, Hermione Granger was one of the Gryffindor prefects, but they didn't learn the rest until the train was more than halfway to Hogwarts and Hermione joined them. Dean Thomas was the second Gryffindor prefect, along with Tracey Davis from Slytherin, Terry Boot from Ravenclaw, and Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan from Hufflepuff.

"I'm surprised you're not a prefect," Hermione said to Harry.

"It's 'cause I'm Quidditch Captain."

"But you can be both. One of Ron Weasley's older brothers was Quidditch Captain, prefect, and Head Boy."

"Huh. Well, I don't care. Theo'll be a good prefect."

"I heard he got caught smoking marijuana at Christmas," Hermione said disapprovingly, "and I know he's one of the smokers that hangs out behind the greenhouses."

"We both did and I smoke too," he said, to her apparent surprise, "and I've been in trouble for other stuff more than him. It's not a surprise I wasn't made prefect."

"Why don't the teachers do anything about the smokers?" Neville wondered aloud. "Everyone knows where they do it."

"They know it won't stop them," Anita said. "They'll just move somewhere else, so they probably decide they might as well just leave them to it."

Hermione didn't approve of this theory. "It might stop some of them. It's really bad for you and it's not like it's cool or anything."

"Yes, we know," Harry said, because it was obvious this comment was aimed at him.

"So why do you do it?" Hermione pushed.

He shrugged. "Just because. I tried it and decided I liked it. Anyway, it's my lungs and my life and if I want to smoke them to death then I will. It's none of your business."

Not that he'd had a cigarette in weeks, which just proved his parents wrong, and any plans he might have in taking it up again now he was free to do so was entirely his choice and in no way influenced by addiction.

It was, however, slightly influenced by the Marauder's Map. Sirius had given it to him at the end of the last term, saying that the old blank bit of parchment had belonged to James and that Harry should now have it and spend the summer figuring out how to make it work. The only clue Sirius gave was, "Think like James," which wasn't very helpful given that Harry had never known James and couldn't know how to think like him.

But he had an arsenal of spells and it didn't take much analysing for him to realise how the contents of the parchment were hidden. He could have removed the disguising charms entirely, but that felt criminal so he'd investigated a bit more to learn the passcode and was glad when he did. The map was amazing and revealed not only several secret passageways within Hogwarts that he'd never discovered himself, but also several leading out. He was eager to explore them and sneaking into Hogsmeade to replenish his cigarette stock seemed the ideal opportunity.

As the first of September fell on a Friday that year, they had a whole weekend before classes started and Harry invited Anita to come along to Hogsmeade with him on Saturday. She didn't really approve of his smoking, refusing to be anywhere near him when he did do it, but she was keen to have a bit of fun and it gave them chance to hang out. The first passage they tried turned out to be blocked by a cave in, but the second proved fruitful, leading them far away from the castle and, hopefully, not to a dead end.

"Did you know we're getting career advice later this year?" Anita commented as they traipsed along the uneven passage, Harry leading because it was too narrow to walk side by side.

"I heard something about it."

"Have you been thinking about it?"

"Not really," he said, and, because Anita was the one person he could be honest with in this, added, "I don't want to think about it."

"I have," she replied. "You know our deals are up midway through seventh year."

"I know," he said, a little more sharply than he meant.

"So there's no point in us bothering with it, or sixth year really. They're both just about the NEWTs, which we can never take. So I've been thinking..."

"You're not coming back," he guessed.

"Yes, but more than that. After this year, we'll have about eighteen months left. A year and a half. We should spend it doing whatever we want. Whatever makes us happy, instead of what everyone expects us to do. Why waste time on pointless school stuff when we're going to die? It's a terrible way to end life. So I had an idea: world trip."

Harry paused, turning to face her, their faces highlighted by their Lumos-lit wands. "A world trip?"

Anita's expression was determined. "I want to see the world, Harry. I'm an Indian who's never set foot outside of Britain, and while I'm perfectly happy as a British Indian I still want to see the country my parents came from. I want to visit the Harmandir Sahib and some of the other Sikh temples. I want to see Rome and Madrid and Paris and Berlin. I want to see wild animals in their natural habitat, take a plane trip and a cruise, cross the Americas from Canada to south Argentina." She paused, chest heaving in excitement, hands raised and brushing the walls beside her, and dropped her voice as she finished, "I want to see everything, Harry."

After listening to that, he kind of wanted to as well. Her excitement and enthusiasm was infectious and already he could imagine sailing across a sparkling blue ocean, watching dolphins riding the surf under a clear blue sky. It beat toiling through an extra eighteen months of school work and it definitely beat eighteen months of fruitless searching for a way out that he'd never get.

"I want you to come with me," Anita continued when Harry said nothing. "I've been saving for years, but my mum can't afford to stop work for that long and I'm having a hard time convincing her to let me go alone. If it comes to it then I'll just run away by myself, but if I could say that someone was coming on the trip with me she might be more willing to let me go."

"I'm not sure my parents would," Harry said quietly, his heart sinking at the very thought. "They won't even let me go to Diagon Alley with just Tori and Theo; they'd never let me travel the world with only you, especially not while the vampire war carries on."

"Would you be willing to run away?" she asked quietly.

"No," he answered immediately, but then, "I don't know. It'd hurt them so much, and I think they could—they have ways of finding me."

"Will you at least think about it?"

He nodded. "Definitely. I really like the idea, Anita, but I'll have to give it some thought and work out what to do about my parents."

She nodded, smiling, and they carried on. The tunnel eventually brought them out into a basement. Harry hadn't brought his Invisibility Cloak with him; for the stealth they needed, it was easier to use a Invisibility Spell. He put it on them both before they crept into the basement then they carefully headed up the stairs and found themselves in Honeydukes sweet shop.

"Cool," Anita whispered. "You couldn't use it after hours though; you'd be stuck in the shop."

Harry nodded, remembered she couldn't see him, and murmured an agreement. Holding hands so as not to lose each other, they left the shop and started making their way towards the newsagents that sold the cigarettes. There was a narrow alley beside it where they ducked in to remove the spells then entered the shop. The owner watched Harry approach.

"'S'not a Hogsmeade weekend," he remarked gruffly.

"So?"

"So what are a pair of kids doing in my shop?"

"Looking to buy some fags," Harry told him. "Are you going to turn away business just because I'm not supposed to be here?"

The man grunted and put a box of Harry's usual favoured cigarettes on the counter. "Three sixty."

Harry hesitated with his fingers in his money pouch. "You put the price up?"

The man gave a unpleasant, yellow-toothed grin. "'S'not a Hogsmeade weekend."

Grumbling, Harry handed over the money.

"He's not very nice," Anita commented when they left. "Doesn't anyone else sell it?"

"Not to kids. They're not supposed to sell to under seventeens."

Unwilling to return to Hogwarts just yet, they chatted about their summers and Harry transferred the cigarettes to his tin, though didn't yet smoke one or Anita would leave him alone. Anita told him that she'd broached the subject of lesbians with her mother, but Mrs Darzi was so strongly opposed that Anita didn't dare out herself and Harry listened to her rant, making the occasional comment where necessary but otherwise just letting her talk.

"At least Hermione's stopped being stupid about it," she said eventually.

"What was her problem? Homophobic too?"

"I dunno, but if it was it's only lesbians because she doesn't have a problem with Seamus and Dean."

"That's true, is it? I heard about them, but I didn't know if it was just a rumour."

"No, it's tru- hide!" She grabbed him by the arm, jerking him down behind a dumpster and almost making him drop his cigarettes.

"What was that for?" he demanded.

"Look!"

He peered out. Professors Babbling, Vector, Sinistra, and Sylvanus, the new Defence teacher, were walking down the street, headed towards the Three Broomsticks. He pulled back and tucked his tobacco and cigarettes into his tin.

"I think that's our cue to leave."

AN: I just want to mention something about Tori "inventing" the word biromantic. From what I could discover, the use of -romantic as seperate from -sexual in terms of attraction only started being used in the early 2000s. Nevertheless, I wanted that distinction in this fic and someone had to invent the word at some point; Tori was the person I chose to use for that purpose.