* ~ The Eighth Year Universe Series ~ *
PART FOUR
Brave New World
Chapter 33: So It Begins
"How was Daphne's first day with the new mentor?"
Harry glanced up at Draco, "Oh, it was great. Bill is the best Curse Breaker in 20 years, and he called her his protégé, and they got to go out on this case with a 1,000year-old cursed wine cabinet. She wouldn't stop talking about it for two hours last night."
Draco snorted, "Are you worried yet?"
Harry shook his head and smiled, "Nah, I trust her completely, and even if I didn't, Bill's not that kind of guy. I do think it's funny that she's acting like a fangirl though, I've popped that in my blackmail bank in case I need it later."
Draco grinned, "I've taught you well."
Harry sniggered at that, "Where on earth are the other two? It's 5 to 8. Sumner won't be happy if they show up late for their first real day on the job."
"They won't be late," Draco said, his eyes flicked towards the clock, "Theo is never late for anything important."
The lecture hall door opened, and Theo walked in with Neville in tow as if on cue. When the two of them sat down in the seats that Harry and Draco had saved for them, they were immediately questioned.
"Is it a coincidence that you two arrived at the same time?"
"No, I was apologising to Theo for being a dick yesterday," Neville said with a pointed look at them, "Since you two ganged up on me and basically forced me to."
"And you just accepted his apology?" Draco asked Theo in disbelief, "Just like okay, thanks for apologising? Because I have to buy you broomsticks or literally beg for your forgiveness on my knees when I piss you off."
Theo smirked, "That's just because I like to see the lengths you will go to for my forgiveness Draco."
Neville sniggered and said, "Typical Slytherin," while Draco shook his head in disgust at his Auror partner.
"I didn't just accept his apology anyway," Theo added, "I made him buy me breakfast."
"So that's why you were nearly late," Harry said with an amused smile, "How did you apologise exactly, Nev?"
"I just told Theo about the merits of Red Panda's," Neville answered, "I spent hours researching them last night. Did you know that Lilly has a book for everything?"
"No, but that doesn't surprise me," Draco said in amusement, "Being engaged to Hermione Granger and all. If there's an answer she can't find in a book, she has a nervous breakdown about it."
Neville snorted, "Yeah, no wonder her and Lil are friends."
"So what are the merits of Red Panda's then?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.
Neville launched into a rather lengthy explanation, "They don't eat nuts, contrary to Theo's belief. They actually eat bamboo, eggs, birds and insects. They are solitary animals, active at night time and mostly sedentary during the day-"
"No wonder I'm a Red Panda," Theo cut in with a suggestive look, "Active at night time."
Draco rolled his eyes, and Harry sniggered while Neville continued, "They are very territorial animals, and they are generally quiet."
Draco snorted, "Quiet? That's definitely not like Theo. Territorial sounds about right, though."
"I'm not that territorial," Theo snorted. He lowered his voice to a whisper and said, "I shared Sadie with you, didn't I?"
Draco raised an eyebrow at him and whispered back, "More like you shared her with Hermione."
"What are you two whispering about?"
"Nothing," Draco and Theo said in unison.
Neville raised an eyebrow, "As I was saying, Red Pandas are also very sensitive to heat. They can't tolerate temperatures over 25°C."
"Like Theo when there was a heatwave in Paris during his honeymoon," Harry said with a grin.
"That sunburn still hurts!" Theo objected.
"So what have we learned? You don't like heat, you're territorial, and you're active at night time?" Draco asked with an amused look, "I mean, I could have just asked Sadie a few pointed questions to work that out."
"Shut up, Draco."
Neville hid his amused smile, "Did you also know that Red Pandas have a fight or flee mechanism when threatened like humans do? They either climb a rock column or a tree to escape or stand on their hind legs to make themselves appear larger. Then they use their sharp claws to defend themselves."
"So I am useful, I have sharp claws, and I can defend myself," Theo said with a pointed look, "If I lose my wand, then that could be useful."
"So long as there aren't wards stopping you from transforming," Harry added.
Theo rolled his eyes, "Well, obviously."
Before they could talk or bicker on the issue any further, the door to the hall opened, and Sumner stepped in.
"Alright, recruits! Today the real hard work begins!"
The real hard work really was hard. They spent the first part of the morning flying around the obstacle course on the grounds of the base, then they were thrown right into the deep end with interrogation training. They had to work in their Auror pairs taking turns being the interrogator and the victim. Theo gave the whole room, including Auror Lorne, a laugh when the interrogation topic he chose was, "Why did you steal the last sandwich at my party? You know cheese and cucumber is my favourite!"
As Harry had expected, he was better at being the interrogator than Neville. Still, then again, Neville also hated roleplay situations like this because they made him feel insecure and nervous.
After interrogation training, they had a lecture, and by that point, everyone was pretty tired, so they were pretty pleased to sit down for a while. Auror Carter spent the next hour lecturing them about stealth and questioning them on all of the ways you could stealthily sneak into enemy territory. Once all of the obvious ones had been shouted out (disillusionment charm, change of appearance with glamour charms, use polyjuice potion), Harry and his friends began to call out the more obscure ways.
"Use an invisibility cloak," Harry said.
Auror Carter smiled in the way someone smiled politely when they thought somebody had said something stupid, "Well yes, but they are scarce and expensive, Mr Potter. Not many people have access to them."
Harry just shot his friends an amused look. Auror Carter then asked if they had any other ideas, and Theo shot his hand up in the air, "Use your animagus form and sneak in."
"Again, Mr Nott," Auror Carter said politely, "Becoming an Animagus is a challenging thing. One must be a very skilled witch or wizard, so not many people have that option available to them."
"And even if they did," Ophelia cut in, "Surely some animagus forms would be no use for stealth purposes?"
"A phoenix would be useful if you need to heal someone, and it can also fly," Harry pointed out.
"Or a lion would be useful if you were in a jungle," Neville added.
"Or the zoo," Draco said.
"A dragon is pretty useless, though," Theo said, shooting Draco a smirk, "Not at all stealthy."
"Unless you wanted to sneak into a dragon reserve," Draco pointed out.
"A Red Panda is very stealthy," Theo said, "And small and cat-like."
"Alright, boys," Auror Carter said in a slightly raised voice, "Yes, some animagus forms can be stealthy when used in the right environment. However, it is too rare an option for us to consider in great detail. Now, let's talk about polyjuice potion. We don't teach you how to make it at schools in the UK, so I don't expect you to know any of this yet, don't worry. Does anyone know what any of the key ingredients are in a polyjuice potion?"
Harry grinned. He was in his element. His hand shot right up into the air.
Carter looked surprised. She probably knew from his application that Potions wasn't his best subject, "Yes, Mr Potter?"
"Shredded boomslang skin, lacewing flies that have to be stewed for 21 days, leeches, powdered bicorn horn, knotgrass and fluxweed, oh and that has to be picked at the full moon," Harry rattled off, "Then, of course, there's the piece of the person you want to turn into. They used to be brutal and rip off people's toenails or fingernails, but now generally people just use hair."
Harry revelled in Carter's surprised look, "Uh…yes. That is spot on. Would anyone happen to know anything about the complex way in which it is made?"
Harry raised his hand again.
"Yes, Potter?"
"It is brewed in two parts. Each part has two steps," Harry said, "First, you have to add fluxweed and knotgrass, then let the potion brew for an hour and a half. Then you add leeches and lacewing flies and heat briefly. After that, you add boomslang skin and bicorn horn and heat briefly. You have to let it brew for 24 hours after that part. Then during the last part, you add some more lacewings, stir and add the piece of the person you want to become."
Carter frowned at him, "Mr Potter, have you brewed this potion before?"
"No," Harry said honestly. It was the truth, he had watched other people make it, but he had never brewed it himself.
"Then how exactly do you know how it is made?" Carter asked, "This is a highly advanced potion. It is never taught at N.E.W.T level, and the only books about it in Hogwarts are in the restricted section."
"I was always rather adept at getting into the restricted section without a teachers note, Ma'am," Harry said with a slight smile.
Carter raised an eyebrow at him, "And you did so just to read up on potions?"
"I needed all the help I could get," Harry said.
It was clear that Carter didn't believe him, but she merely smiled slightly and said, "I see. Now, as with all potions, there are restrictions. You must never use the potion to transform into an animal form rather than a human form. The consequences can be very severe, chiefly you could be trapped in that form forever, or you could be left with animal-like tendencies."
"Does Hermione have any cat-like tendencies?" Theo whispered to Draco, "Can you make her purr?"
Draco snorted in amusement, and Harry said, "She definitely has claws."
Draco winced, "Don't remind me."
"This is cute, you two comparing notes about your-"
"-don't say it," Harry and Draco echoed.
"-pussy."
"Fucking idiot," Neville muttered as he hid an amused smile.
Carter gave the boys a pointed look and raised her voice, "I assume that everyone here knows that the Ministry has restrictions concerning the brewing of polyjuice potion. The justice department can use it at their discretion for undercover jobs and the like. However, it is not to be abused by the public. Can anyone tell me why that might be?"
People started to spout out answers such as, you could turn into someone and sleep with their girlfriend, which is technically sexual assault or could turn into someone then go into their home and steal all of their money. While these answers were spouted out, Draco whispered, "By the way, how did you remember all of that?"
"I am not as shit a friend as you seem to think," Harry murmured, "Ron wasn't bothered about keeping Hermione company while she slaved over that potion for weeks, but I was."
Draco raised an eyebrow at him, "Congratulations, you've just earned another grain of respect."
Harry snorted at this and focused his attention on Auror Carter once more.
By the time the lecture was over, Harry was starving, and he couldn't wait to get some lunch.
However, before he got to the hall, he was pulled aside by Auror Sheppard, "Potter! Do you have a minute?"
Harry nodded, "Yes, sir."
"Great, we need a word with you in the office," Sheppard said, "It's just along the corridor."
Harry's heart began to thump harder and faster than it had when he had been flying that morning. They wanted a word with him in the office? On his first day? He started trying to work out what he had done wrong.
Thankfully, the office was a short walk away, so he didn't have to contemplate for too long. He stepped in, and his mouth went dry when he saw Auror Sumner sitting behind the desk looking rather solemn. Sheppard shut the door behind them and leant against the counter.
"I assume you know why you're here, son," Sumner said.
Harry shook his head, "No…I'm sorry, but I don't."
Sumner sighed and glanced down, "I understand that you're a powerful wizard and that you killed Voldemort. But that doesn't give you the right to put Curse Breakers in hospital."
Harry's heart sank, "No sir, you don't understand-"
"What I understand is that your magical signature showed up on the tiny little island of St. Kilda along with a few others on Sunday night. The next thing we know, Curse Breaker Fawley is in St. Mungo's with serious injuries claiming that he had a bad fall. Do you care to explain that?"
Harry bit back his fear of being thrown out of the program and nodded, "Yes, sir, I can explain it. Stuart Fawley sexually assaulted my fiancé. He was made her mentor because she's a Trainee Curse Breaker at Gringotts. He abused that position by touching her, kissing her without her consent and then taking her to a cottage that he knew had an ancient lust curse on it. She managed to break free, minutes before he planned to rape her."
Sumner and Sheppard's stoic facades fell away as genuine disgust showed on their faces.
Harry took a breath, "Frankly, sir, I would have killed him if it wasn't for the fact that I had Neville there to make sure I didn't. Fawley deserved to pay for what he did because, you know as well as I do, that he wouldn't have been prosecuted for it because it wasn't rape. You also know, as well as I do, that the woman gets the blame in the majority of cases like this. So someone had to show that sick bastard what happens when you violate a woman like that."
Sumner and Sheppard caught each other's eyes for a moment, then Sumner nodded, "I completely understand. The justice system has gaps, and men like that…they tend to fall through those gaps more often than not."
"It's wrong, sir, with all due respect," Harry said.
Sheppard nodded, "It is wrong, but we're working on fixing it. Right now, cases like that get handled by the Domestics department, which is overworked and understaffed. Our guy there does the best he can, but with all of our efforts focused on rooting out corrupt Aurors and tracking down the last few Death Eaters, men like Fawley do fall through the gaps right now."
Harry gave a short nod but said nothing more.
"A higher power would usually investigate this," Sumner admitted, "But Sheppard and myself both have wives. I know how I would react in your situation, and I expect Sheppard feels the same."
Sheppard nodded.
"So it will remain within the walls of this office," Sumner finished, "But you must learn Potter, you are not above the law because you killed Voldemort. If anything like this happens again, we will follow the procedures that we are required to follow by law and Auror or not; you will be prosecuted."
"I understand, sir," Harry said with a solemn nod, "It won't happen again."
"I believe you," Sumner said honestly, "But thankfully, we don't need to worry about that because Shep took a statement from Curse Breaker Fawley last night. What did he say to you again, Shep?"
"That he was drunk and fell down the stairs, sir," Sheppard replied calmly, "Caught himself real nastily in a sensitive place too, so I hear."
"That's unfortunate," Sumner said, "Dismissed Recruit Potter."
"Thank you, sir," Harry said. He stepped out of the office with Sheppard, and the older man put a hand on his shoulder.
"You alright, Potter?"
Harry nodded, "Yes, sir."
"And your fiancé?"
"She will be," Harry replied.
Sheppard nodded, "Good. Next time, cover up your wand signature."
Without another word, he walked away down the corridor.
Neville was nearly bouncing off the walls as the group of friends walked to the hospital wing after lunch.
"Jeez, Neville, I know you're excited about seeing Lilly, but you aren't going to jump her the second we walk in, are you?"
Neville whacked Theo around the head, "Shut up, Theo. You have your other half back now. Mine is still stuck on the other side of the channel."
"When mine is gone, she's further away though," Theo pointed out.
"It's not a competition," Draco drawled.
"Everything is a competition," Theo said, "And I need to win something. I certainly didn't win the Animagus form competition."
"Oh, Harry wins that," Neville agreed.
"Hey! I can fly too, and I have super strength just like he does," Draco objected.
"Yes, but can you heal people with your tears?" Neville asked.
"No, but I can breathe fire," Draco said.
"So Harry heals, and you destroy," Neville said thoughtfully.
"Quite accurate, really," Theo remarked when they reached the hospital wing.
"You're supposed to be on my side, you idiot," Draco muttered, he whacked Theo around the head for good measure, and the two of them bickered into the hospital wing.
Harry shook his head in amusement and looked over at Neville. He was scanning the room for Lilly, and when he saw her, his eyes lit up. She grinned and waved him over.
"Hey, stranger."
"Hey," Neville said with a stupid smile, "I hate the fact I can't hug you or kiss you right now."
"Self-control is an excellent trait to train yourself up on," Lilly said with a grin, "How's your first day going?"
"It's busy," Neville said honestly, "How's France?"
"Busy, stinking of onions, the usual," Lilly joked.
"And Marcel?"
"He's backed off since Clara spoke to him," Lilly promised, "So you don't need to march over to France and kick his arse this weekend, don't worry."
"Damn, I was kind of looking forward to it," Neville admitted with a grin.
"Longbottom! Quit acting like a lovestruck puppy and get back to your partner!"
Lilly chuckled, and Neville shot her an amused look before walking back to Harry. The person who had barked the instructions didn't look intimidating, but Harry had a feeling that would turn out to be a false first impression.
"My name is Auror Frasier," She began. Frasier had short mousy brown hair and kind looking brown eyes. She was barely 5 foot, but Harry imagined she could pack a punch when she needed to, just like Lilly, "And I am the Senior Trauma Healer in charge of this hospital wing. It will be me you will have to answer to if I see you in this place more than twice a year. Does anyone envision that being a problem?"
Harry raised his hand.
"Oh, you do, Potter, do you?" Frasier asked, "Why would that be?"
"Uh…in school, I averaged out at about four trips to the hospital wing a year," Harry admitted sheepishly.
"Then you need to get better at dealing with your own injuries," Frasier said curtly, which of course made his friends snigger, "And this is what Trainee Trauma Healer Lillian Moon will be teaching you. She will graduate at the same time as you lot; she will be patching you up in the middle of duels, so you're going to owe a lot to her. The sooner you learn to respect the people that keep you alive in this job, the better."
Harry nodded. That sounded more than fair.
"That is the purpose of these afternoon sessions," Frasier continued, "You will be set tasks, and if anyone has any questions, you are to go to Miss Moon, and she will help you. If she can't help you, which I doubt because she seems like a very competent young woman, she will come to me or one of my colleagues for help. Do you all understand?"
Everyone nodded.
"Good," Frasier said, "I'm going to introduce you to the other hospital wing staff, and then I'm going to leave you to it. This is Auror Carson; he is an Auror first and a Healer second which means that he does most of the fieldwork around here."
Auror Carson had a kind, shy face and bright blue eyes. He smiled and said, "Hello," in a broad Scottish accent.
"And this is Trauma Healer Keller, she mostly stays on base, and she does the bulk of the training," Frasier said, "So acquaint yourselves with her because you will see a lot of her over the next few months."
Keller smiled. She was a beautiful woman with long, dark blonde hair and kind eyes. Everyone here had kind eyes; Harry had a feeling that Frasier was a bit like Pomfrey, a softie at heart.
"Hi everyone," Keller said, "Today's first task is simple. I want you all to practice basic healing charms, so we're talking about things like sealing a minor cut and soothing a slight burn. We don't want to throw you in at the deep end; that's never a good idea with people who have no experience of healing magic. Can I just start by asking you to raise your hand if you have any experience?"
Harry, Neville, Draco and Theo all raised their hands.
Keller smiled, "I'll just ask you to summarise what you know for me. Starting with Recruit Potter?"
"I learned the basics during the war," Harry admitted, "But I was never any good. Herm – my friend – told me that my hand shook too much."
Keller chuckled, "That's common for beginners, but it will go away when you feel less nervous about performing healing magic. Recruit Longbottom?"
"I'm pretty good with the after-care charms for the cruciatus curse," Neville said, "I used them a lot during the war when my fellow students and I were being tortured in school. I can heal a shallow cut or a first-degree burn too, Lil - I mean Trainee Trauma Healer Moon – taught me during the war."
Lilly shot Neville a sympathetic smile, and Keller nodded, "That is good to know. Recruit Nott?"
"I know the basics. I can heal cuts, bruises, burns, etc," Theo answered, "I taught myself in school."
Draco nodded and looked down, "Yes, I'm in the same boat as Theo."
Harry and Neville both knew why their friends were good with healing magic. They had learned it while looking after themselves or, in Draco's case, his mother. It was the consequence of growing up in an abusive situation; Daphne was also adept with healing magic.
Keller obviously sensed this too because she smiled sympathetically at the boys and continued, "Thank you for that summary, guys. In that case, work in your Auror pairs. Inflict slight injuries on yourselves, and then try to heal your Auror partners injuries. Myself and Miss Moon will be floating about observing you all and correcting your technique, so just ask if you need any help at any point. Is that all clear?"
There was a chorus of, "Yes, Ma'am."
"Does Trainee Trauma Healer Moon need to help you perfect your technique, Nev?" Theo asked with a grin.
"There's nothing wrong with my technique," Neville snorted as he and Harry made their way towards their work station.
Harry sniggered at Neville's expense, and the taller boy said, "Oi, watch who you're laughing at. I saw that look."
"What look?" Harry asked as Neville sealed up a cut on his arm.
"The look on your face when you saw Keller," Neville said, smirking at his friend.
Harry rolled his eyes, "There was no look."
"Yeah, right," Neville scoffed, "Tall, blonde bombshell. She's totally your type."
"I am happily engaged," Harry reminded Neville.
"That doesn't stop you from finding other people attractive," Neville pointed out, "You think she's hot."
"I do not," Harry objected, "Ouch!"
"Stay still then," Neville said.
"Shut up about Keller then," Harry bit back.
"Admit that you think she's hot, and I will," Neville said.
"Fine," Harry muttered, "She's pretty fit. You happy now?"
"Oh yeah," Neville smirked as he looked over Harry's shoulder, "Hi, Healer Keller."
Harry's cheeks went scarlet, "Neville, can I inflict your next injury, please?"
Keller walked around to the front of their work station and smiled, although her cheeks were slightly pink, "I would advise against that, Mr Potter. Great work there, Mr Longbottom; the wound just needs to be sealed a little more tightly. Do you mind if I demonstrate?"
"Not at all," Neville said. He shot Harry a slightly wicked smirk and took a step back. Keller sat down in front of Harry and took his arm with one hand. With the other, she held her wand steadily and began to tighten the wound while it sealed.
"Is that at all painful?" She asked Harry.
Harry shook his head, "No, Ma'am," he said while keeping his head down.
"There we go," Keller said kindly, "Do you see how much tighter that is, Mr Longbottom? That will reduce the risk of infection greatly."
Neville nodded, "Thank you, ma'am," he said as Keller walked away to see how Ophelia and Blanche were getting on.
"You are a fucking dick," Harry muttered the moment Keller was out of earshot.
"I haven't seen your cheeks that scarlet since the days of Cho Chang," Neville joked.
"If I were you, I would shut up before Lilly gets over here," Harry said, "Because you forget that I shared a dorm with you for seven years and spent two weeks in the wilderness with you."
"I really don't see the significance of that," Neville said calmly. He inflicted a small cut upon himself and held his arm out.
"Don't you?" Harry asked casually. He took Neville's arm and held his wand, a little shakily, in the direction of the cut, "Because the thing is Nev, you talk in your sleep, you always have done, and you've said some pretty interesting things over the years."
Neville snorted, "You're bluffing. I'd know if I talked in my sleep."
"If I was bluffing, would I know about a certain reoccurring dream you spent two years having about Professor Sinistra?" Harry asked as he began to seal the cut up.
Neville's eyes widened.
Harry smirked, "Or about that little curious phase you went through in sixth year when a certain Slytherins name came up in your sleep-"
"Oh fuck off," Neville muttered, "No fucking way."
"No, it was more like, Theo fucking Nott," Harry grinned.
"I hate you," Neville muttered, "But I remember the Cedric dreams."
"Nightmares."
"And the Draco Malfoy ones," Neville said with an evil smile, "Definitely not nightmares. Not from the noises-"
"Once!" Harry hissed, "It was once!"
Neville raised an eyebrow at him, "Shall we just agree that I'll keep all of your dirty secrets if you keep mine?"
"Deal," Harry said quickly, "Pleasure doing business with you."
Neville rolled his eyes, "You spend too much time with Draco these days," he grumbled.
Before Harry could say anymore, Lilly had reached them, "Harry, you are massacring my boyfriend's arm."
"I know," Harry said irritably, "But I just can't keep my wand steady when I'm doing healing magic. I don't know why because I can hold it steady fine for other sorts of magic."
"It's because you're nervous," Lilly said, "You have this preconception that you're bad at healing magic because Hermione told you so during the war. It's that preconception that is making your hand shake."
Lilly took his arm gently and steadied it, "Now, close your eyes and tell yourself that you can do this, then open them again."
Harry did as she said. When he opened his eyes, Lilly let go of his hand, and it had stopped shaking, "Woah, Lil! How did you do that?"
"I didn't do anything," Lilly said with a smile, "You did. Now seal up this cut and let me see how tight it is."
Harry finished sealing up the cut in a straight line this time. Lilly smiled and nodded, "Great job. You just need to have more faith in yourself."
Neville smiled at her, "You're good at this whole, being an authority figure thing."
Lilly shot him a suggestive look, "Does it turn you on?"
"Oh, Merlin, I do not want to be in the middle of this conversation," Harry said with a vaguely amused look.
Neville snorted in amusement, "Fat chance of any flirting going on with you here."
"Sorry to kill the mood, but we are supposed to be working," Harry pointed out.
Lilly laughed, "Harry has a point. I'm going to check how Draco and Theo are getting on. See you two in a bit."
"See you later," Neville said as Lilly walked away. The moment she was out of earshot, Neville muttered, "Thanks for being a cock block."
Harry grinned, "What were you going to do? Have a quickie in the fucking supply closet?"
Neville kicked him under the table, "You're a prick."
"Very impressive. I can barely see where the cut was."
Theo looked up and smiled, "That would be because I used a glamour laced healing charm to avoid scarring."
Lilly looked impressed, "Very good. Who taught you that?"
Theo's smile wavered, "I taught myself everything I know, Lil, including healing magic."
Lilly knew enough about his past not to question that, so she just nodded, "How is Sadie, by the way?"
"Better," Theo said honestly, "She's eating now, not quite three square meals a day yet, but we'll get there."
"Now she's home. Her stomach will finally be able to settle," Sadie said with a nod, "What's she going to do when she goes back out there? She can't let herself feel that ill for two weeks at a time."
"I don't know," Theo said honestly, "We'll work that out when it comes around, I suppose. At the moment, I'm just glad she's got her colour back."
"And her attitude," Draco said with an amused look Theo's way, "I heard that she had to roar at you to get you out of bed this morning."
Theo rolled his eyes, "When you say you heard, you mean Neville told you."
"Why was Neville in your house this morning?" Lilly asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Because he was a dick to me yesterday after we found out what our animagus forms were, and he came to apologise," Theo replied.
"Hold up a second; you found out what your animagus forms were yesterday? And Neville didn't think to floo me to tell me about that?" Lilly asked in disbelief.
"In Neville's defence, he did tell us not to mention it to you," Draco said, with a pointed glare at Theo, "Because he knew you would be pissed off if we did, and he wants to tell you in person."
"Well, I'm here, in person, and he still hasn't mentioned it," Lilly pointed out.
"Give him time, he will," Draco promised, "And we said nothing."
Theo nodded sheepishly, "Sorry."
"Idiot," Draco muttered. It almost sounded affectionate.
Lilly would generally have laughed at the two of them, but she found herself feeling too irritated to do so. She circled the room again and ended up back with Harry and Neville about half an hour later.
"Good job with the burn healing," Lilly said to Harry, "Much better than your first attempt with the cut."
"I got a lot of burns when I broke into Gringotts," Harry said casually.
Lilly snorted, "Only Harry Potter could say that casually and have it make sense."
Neville sniggered, "That's accurate. Hey Lil, since Keller isn't lurking nearby this time, I have something to tell you."
Lilly felt her irritation at Neville ease with those words. At least he had a reason for not mentioning it straight away, "What's that?"
"We found out what our animagus forms were yesterday," Neville said in an undertone, "And mine is awesome. Can you guess what it is?"
"A bear?" Lilly guessed.
Neville shook his head, "Bigger, better and stronger."
"Go on then," Lilly said with a slight smile.
"A lion," Neville said proudly, "A huge lion."
"That is pretty awesome," Lilly agreed, "I mean, I guess you definitely are a true Gryffindor too."
"That's what Harry said," Neville said with a grin, "Draco is a dragon which I suppose makes sense."
Lilly nodded, "Yep, his name does mean dragon. What's Theo?"
Neville tried not to snigger as he said, "A Red Panda."
"Aww," Lilly said, "Red Pandas are the cutest animal ever!"
"Don't say that to Theo," Harry advised, "He wasn't happy that everyone else was a powerful or magical creature while he was a cute little Red Panda."
"Well, it makes sense. Theo doesn't have much luck with magical creatures," Lilly said, "We wouldn't want him setting fire to himself or something, would we?"
"You make a good point," Neville chuckled.
"Red Pandas are solitary animals. They sleep all day and avoid predators," Lilly added, "They look all cute and fluffy, but they are super territorial. When someone threatens their young or their mate, they get fierce, so if you think about it…Theo is kinda like a Red Panda."
"That's true," Harry said, "I had never thought about it like that."
"I knew everything you just said because after I was a dick to Theo about his animagus form, I had to apologise to him," Neville said, "The other two ganged up on me and called me a douche. Anyway, I researched Red Pandas, so I could tell Theo how awesome they were. Do you have a book for everything, by the way?"
"Not quite everything," Lilly said, "But I do love Red Pandas."
"Should I be concerned about this newfound love for Theo?" Neville joked.
"Maybe," Lilly countered with a slightly wicked smirk, "If you're going to keep being a dick to people, then maybe you do need to be concerned."
Neville narrowed his eyes at her to try and work out if she was serious or not.
"Speaking of lovely, cute, fluffy Theo," Lilly said mischievously, "I had better go and see how he's getting on."
As Lilly walked away, Neville said, "She's joking, right? About the Theo thing and the me being a dick thing?"
"She's joking about the Theo thing," Harry replied, "But not about the you being a dick thing."
Neville groaned, "When did you become the smart one who gives advice about girls? You used to be clueless."
"Daphne opened up my eyes," Harry joked with a grin, "And you're supposed to be burning yourself, so stop looking at your girlfriend's arse."
"So I hear that you have the best animagus form," Lilly said as she reached Draco and Theo's workstation.
Theo rolled his eyes, "Very funny. I expected that from Nev, but I didn't expect it from you, Lilly."
"Watch the attitude!" Lilly exclaimed, "I was serious! I'd much rather be a Red Panda than a lion or a dragon. A phoenix is different. I mean, who wouldn't want to be a phoenix?"
"I wouldn't want to be a phoenix," Draco muttered, "Poncy fancy birds."
"Coming from the guy who keeps peacocks?" Lilly quipped.
"I have one peacock, one!" Draco defended himself, "And I only kept that one because I raised it from a baby."
"He's very attached to Princess," Theo smirked.
"Princess?" Lilly grinned, "That's what your peacock is called?"
"Okay, firstly, fuck you, Theodore," Draco said with a roll of his eyes, "Secondly, I was four when I named her."
"Just saying, peacocks are fancy poncy animals," Lilly said in a sing-song voice, "Lions are cool and yeah, they can rip someone to pieces in seconds, not that Neville would use it for that. But they are also kind of douchebags."
"How exactly is a lion a douchebag?" Theo asked with an amused smile.
"Yeah, I'm dying to hear this one," Draco said, leaning forward slightly.
"Well," Lilly explained, "Lions live in prides. There are normally one or two lions to a few lionesses and their offspring with those lionesses. The thing is, the male lion doesn't do much. The lionesses hunt to feed themselves, their young and the male while the male sits and does nothing for like 20 hours a day."
"I think I can sense where this is going," Theo said with a grin, "And I don't think it paints Nev in the best light."
Lilly shrugged, "I'm not saying he's lazy. He's worked hard to get where he is. I am saying that the lion doesn't do much until his pride is threatened, then he fights off the opposition. Lions are very territorial, jealous creatures, and they are very arrogant proud creatures."
"No wonder he's a bloody lion," Theo joked.
"Exactly," Lilly said with a smirk, "As for dragons…."
"Oh, come on, what did I do to piss you off?" Draco asked.
"Nothing, I just thought you would like to understand how you relate to a dragon," Lilly said honestly, "But if you'd rather not, then I'll just go over to Blanche and-"
"No, no," Draco said quickly, "I would like to know, please."
Theo sniggered because of how difficult it had been for Draco to say please just then. Lilly smirked again and said, "Well, dragons are proud, not unlike yourself. They are also associated with wisdom because although they cannot talk, studies have shown that they are vastly more intelligent than us. You have a thirst for knowledge; it's why you and Hermione are so good together and that in itself makes you very similar to a dragon. There's also the fact they breathe fire when they get pissy; that sounds familiar."
Draco rolled his eyes, "That was sounding so good until you finished it with an insult."
Lilly smirked and glanced at the clock; there wasn't long left until their afternoon of practising healing magic was over, "Somebody has to keep you all humble. See you guys at the weekend."
"I don't know how Neville puts up with that," Draco muttered as she walked away.
Lilly turned around and smirked, "It's for the sex, Draco."
Theo sniggered and was swiftly whacked around the back of the head for doing so.
When Theo got home on Wednesday night, he was exhausted. It hadn't even been a particularly physical day, but his brain had been active from 8 am to 5 pm and that in itself was tiring.
He smiled when he stepped into the kitchen. The smell of something wonderful hit him straight away, and Sadie was singing along to the radio as she cooked it.
"Hey!" She chirped, "I feel a lot better today; I even managed to make spaghetti bolognaise. Do you know how much I missed simple, tasty food that isn't loaded with spices while I was in that place?"
Theo laughed, "Hey, it smells amazing, but you didn't have to cook. I told you to rest."
"I did rest," Sadie promised, "I slept until 10 am, then I did some coursework, and since I felt hungry for the first time in days, I cooked."
He kissed her on the cheek, "Thank you. I'm starving."
"Sit down then; it's ready," Sadie said.
Theo took a seat and watched her plate up their dinner. He found himself feeling more grateful than ever for her after the time they had spent apart.
"So, how was your first day?" Sadie asked eagerly.
"Tiring, but good," Theo replied, "Except Lilly is one harsh teacher."
Sadie laughed, "Does that really surprise you? She managed to keep Ron Weasley in line."
Theo laughed too, "True. I always forget that she dated Ron before Nev…it seems like they've been together forever."
"They just sort of slotted into the whole relationship thing really fast," Sadie agreed, "But then again, so did we."
"Let's face it, Sade, that's because we'd basically been a couple for years, just without the sex," Theo said. He shot her a grin.
"That's true; we did spend about 90% of our time together all the time," Sadie chuckled.
Theo smiled and said, "This is amazing, by the way. How did you have time to do this on top of your coursework?"
"The coursework was ridiculously easy," Sadie admitted, "I had finished it and sent it over to Egypt via an open floo channel in about 3 hours. After that, I was just looking for things to do, to be honest."
"No wonder you're finding it boring if it's that easy for you," Theo said, "I'm finding bits of Auror training easy, but some parts are tough."
"What bits are you finding hard?" Sadie asked curiously.
"Well, flying this morning was tiring but not difficult. We had to do interrogation training, though, and I was rubbish at that. I just made a joke out of it to cover up the fact that I don't enjoy shouting at people and threatening them to get information," Theo said, "My father used to do that to me as a kid, and I hate having to treat someone else like that. I mean, we had to roleplay, so it was hard to be like that with Draco. I hope it will be different when I know the person across from me is a bad person."
Sadie nodded and reached across the table, "I'm sure it will be, and there's no shame in not enjoying being horrible to people you know."
"I know," Theo said with a small smile, "We had a lecture about stealth as well. It was all stuff I knew, though, how to make polyjuice potion and the best way to cast a disillusionment charm, you know?"
Sadie nodded, "What was healing magic like?"
"Good," Theo said honestly, "It was pretty easy, actually. Draco and I thought it was a bit of a skive, and we mostly spent the afternoon chatting while the Healing Aurors weren't looking. You seem so much better today though, I'm relieved."
"So am I," Sadie admitted, "I felt like death those last two weeks; it was awful. I'm so glad to be back to normal, and I'm so happy to be home. I'm dreading having to go back to Egypt…."
Theo squeezed her hand tightly, "Well, it's ages away yet, so don't let it bother you now."
"I'll try," Sadie promised.
*~ TBC ~ *