Neville took advantage of being in the back as the group walked down stone steps to the dungeons by taking Draco's hand.
"Where's this sudden confidence coming from?" Draco whispered. The pair lagged behind by a few steps.
Neville shrugged. "When you touched me in the library something clicked. I regretted swatting you away. So when I saw an opportunity for 'revenge' in a way I could brush off as a joke, I took it. When you didn't get up, well, I thought- Do you want me to stop?"
Neville's grip slackened. Without thinking, Draco squeezed to keep the contact.
"I don't know. No? Aren't you scared?"
"Like Luna said, what would it change? Life's short and sometimes the people closest to you get taken away." Neville shrugged, powerful shoulders rolling. "I've learned it's best to jump in with both feet."
"But I made your life hell."
"You know what they say about little boys pulling little girl's ponytails."
"So you're the girl?" Draco arched a challenging eyebrow.
Neville chuckled. "Oh no, little one," he tugged gently at Draco's sleek blond ponytail, "you're definitely the girl."
"Your analogy falls apart then."
"We were young." The others had disappeared around the gentle curve of the stairs, so he pulled the shorter boy against his chest. "We were confused."
"And this isn't confusing?"
"This," Neville said and leaned so close that their lips barely brushed, "is exciting."
They kissed. It was sweet. Simple. Lips on lips.
The stars didn't align and they didn't try to stick their tongues down each others' throats, but there was more passion in their chaste kiss than either of them had felt kissing witches.
It ended too soon.
"You sure move quick, Longbottom."
"I think I like your broomstick, Malfoy."
"My dad is going to kill me."
"If you ask nicely, I'm sure our lord will kill him for you before he can find out."
Maybe it was the insanity of the situation, maybe it was his hormone fuelled teenage brain, or maybe that kiss had packed too big a punch, but Neville saying 'our' made him giggle and blush like the damn school girl he'd been cast as.
Neville groaned. "Don't do that." He kissed each cheek and then down his neck. "You're too cute and they're waiting for us." He nipped at Draco's collarbone, which incited a delightful little yip.
"I am not, nor have I ever been cute, "Draco said with as much ice as he could muster.
"I've got a boner that begs to differ." He grabbed Draco's hips and prodded his thigh with the firm evidence.
Draco blushed harder and pushed at Neville's chest, which proved a mistake as feeling his pecs only flustered him further. He folded his hands into his armpits and tried to ignore his own body's response as he pushed past Neville.
"Come on, They'll wonder where we went,"
Neville chuckled. "We're going to have a lot of fun little one."
In the dungeon, Harry's knuckles grew white and blood welled in the crescents his nails carved into his palms.
Dumbledore sat in his cell, as smug as ever. "So nice to see you've returned to us in one piece," Dumbledore said. He smiled, but in a magic retardant cell cut off from his trinkets and his patented low level compulsion charms, it was a cold, calculating sneer with none of the normal warmth or eye twinkle.
Hermione shivered and took a step back from the bars. "So it's true. You had Snape threaten me."
He snickered. "Threatened is a bit strong, don't you think?" Another cool grin.
"Drop the act, old man," Neville said. "Without your glamours, it's having the opposite effect."
Dumbledore grinned wide as a cheshire cat. "Old habits, my boy."
"Where did you have him send me?" she asked.
"Send you? Nowhere. He lacks the power to send so much as an apple where you went without a door."
"What sort of door? "Hermione asked.
"Cleverest witch of the age and you couldn't figure it out from the other side?"
Harry growled. A lance of lightning flashed, struck the bars, which glowed red and rang like a bell. Only the wards preventing magic from acting within the cell saved the old fool's life.
Dumbledore laughed, a harsh braying. "Your own jail leaving you a bit impotent my boy?"
"Not at all, geezer, I just believe in warning shots. See, I'll tell you to your face that I won't hesitate to let pixies naw on your brittle old bones if you don't behave the way that I expect. Rather than offering sweets laced with ketamine with a tub of ice waiting in the other room to dump you in once I've finished ripping out your kidneys. I find things so much easier when we can trust each other, don't you?"
Jade chips met watery blue. Water wavered, and turned down. Not before Harry saw that the only thing he could trust, was that Dumbledore would scheme, plot, and even murder to protect his own interests.
"The veil," Hermione said. "I was through the veil."
"Yes."
"But that doesn't explain how I got there."
"You did it yourself," Dumbledore said. "Something happened when you helped Harry release the elves, didn't it? The power you showed at the ministry, it's ancient and not of this universe."
"You knew what would happen."
"I knew something would happen, you two being bonded," Dumbledore said, "but as usual my dear, you surpassed all expectations."
"What is it? The power."
"I don't know."
"Bullshit," Harry spat.
"I'm touched that you think me capable of studying ancient elemental entities from other universes, but Hermione is the only person in recorded history to go through the veil and return."
"So it's from there? The place I was trapped in?"
"Not likely. You were in a universe," Luna said, "but there are infinite."
Dumbledore looked genuinely shocked for a moment, but hid it fast. "Precisely."
"If you don't know what it is or where it's from, how come you seem to know so much
about it?" Draco asked.
"Because it's not the first time it has come to this reality. There have been other champions of death and renewal. The great flood, the crusades, both world wars, even the 'asteroid' that did away with the dinosaurs. If you know what magical signature to look for, you can track whatever is inhabiting you throughout history. Many wars, genocides, and every extinction level event going back hundreds of millions of years."
"Are you saying I'm going to cause a war?"
"It's unclear whether the Phoenix causes the decimation or cleans up afterward. Either way, I'd ready yourselves." Dumbeldore sneered. "Me? I think my best bet is to ride it out in here." He leaned back on his stone cot.
"A phoenix?"
"That's the closest magical signature to this entity. That's why I acquired Fawkes. Having him as a reference point and focus helps me track the energy signatures."
Hermione lapsed into silence. Harry, however, couldn't contain his tongue much longer.
"You're being awfully helpful," Harry said. "What are you playing at? And why are you trying to convince Hermione she's going to destroy the world?"
"While this cell is just fine Mr. Potter, I'd rather avoid Azkaban. There are not many ways I can prove my worth from in here, so I will gladly answer any and all questions posed to me as fully as I can.
"I am not trying to convince miss Granger of anything. My situation is precarious. I will not sugarcoat anything just to have you blame me for not being prepared for the disaster on your doorstep."
Harry growled, but nodded. Then he asked a question that was probably not the wisest when his emotional state was so chaotic.
"Alright Mr Honesty Hour, why did you leave me to die on the Dursleys doorstep when you weren't one of the eight people my parents clearly set up as guardians and in direct violation of the stipulation that I not be placed with Petunia under any circumstances?"
Dumbledore hung his head. "That my boy, was one of the greatest failings of my long life."
"Cut the crap. Tell me."
Dumbledore's posture changed instantly. He sat straight and met Harry gaze, challenge and derision writ large on his face.
"I left you there to break you."
"You nearly broke a whole town."
Dumbledore waved that off. "Muggle lives matter not. You would have survived and my wards would have knocked you out and brought you to me. I would've been your saviour. You would've been as devoted to me as you are to Black.
"I would've molded you into a political leader like our world has never known. Together, we would've reshaped the magical world."
"I don't know if you've realized this, but that's what I'm doing just fine without you."
"Just fine? You're a bulldozer. You rush in with half baked plans and focus on issues that don't matter to the big picture. The most subtle thing you've done is start a whisper campaign that will force Fudge out of office in the next few days. What a colossal blunder."
"Blunder? Fudge is useless."
"Exactly. You couldn't have asked for a better puppet minister. With one sentence you destroyed a decade of work getting him into that position. Now there's talk of Amelia Bones replacing him."
"And who do you think is putting her in power?" Harry flashed a cocky grin.
"I don't care how close Black and her are, she will not be controlled. As soon as you place her, she will run the ministry as she sees fit."
"Exactly. She has more integrity in her middle finger than the rest of the ministry combined."
"That woman is incorruptible and inflexible. She might consider your advice, but she won't take orders from you. "
"Or from anyone else. A weak leader makes for a weak community. Didn't you learn that as headmaster? If I could bribe Fudge then so could the Death Eaters you allowed to rise to political power."
"I never - "
"If you put Fudge in charge, then his numerous failings are your failings. Somehow, I do not believe Amelia Bones will reflect nearly so poorly upon me.
"What you don't seem to understand is that no one person should be more powerful than the law. That's how tyrants are born."
Dumbledore scoffed. "You'll never make the changes you need to make working within the law."
"If I can't make the change under the government of someone with Amelia's moral compass, then the change should not happen."
"What utter naivety," he scoffed.
"Is there a different reality behind each veil?" Draco asked quickly as he saw his lord's ire reach a boiling point. Neville stood so close that he got away with slipping his hand into Draco's back pocket as everyone turned to look in their direction.
The blond fought his blush and schooled his features to neutrality. A faint smirk played on Neville's damnably lush lips. Bastard.
"Ah, a very perceptive question," Dumbledore said. "I have suspected as much for a long time. The veils are identical and can not be probed magically. I recently sent muggle drones through, but they all failed. However, I took audio recordings of each and ran them through muggle algorithms. They are all distinct. Unique. I do not know if that means they are different realities, or if they merely let out at different locations of the same reality. The only way to know would be to walk through more than one."
"Wait," Hermione said. "Harry said the Death Eaters somehow brought the veil to the ritual, but I didn't see anything like it in Snape's Office," Hermione said.
"Like I said, you went there yourself. Well, with the Phoenix's help. Like I said, it came from another universe. Somehow, it has the power to move between them. I used to think it used the doorways."
"But it doesn't have to," Hermione murmured. "Merlin Harry, what did the goddesses do to me?"
"I don't know, but we'll figure it out together." He took her hand to give her a reassuring squeeze.
"I may be of more assistance out of my cage," Dumbledore suggested.
"Wouldn't dream of it Albus," Harry sneered. "You said the cell would be the safest place for you when your foreseen disaster hits, and frankly everyone out here is safer for it. Tonks."
She walked over from the corner she'd disappeared into when they came to talk to her prisoner.
"Thank you for your services. I would appreciate your discretion. Some information the prisoner volunteered could be misconstrued or even dangerous in the wrong hands."
Tonks bit her lower lip. "I can't ignore a direct question from a superior. Can't lie for you neither."
"Of course not. I'm just asking you not to volunteer the information freely."
Another moment of lip sawing before one firm nod.
"Thank you. I'm meeting with Amelia in ten minutes to debrief the other night. I know this is a lot more than you signed up for. Do you have a partner or a few people you trust implicitly that I can request for backup?"
"I can handle it. Anyone else would have seniority."
Harry laughed. "If it's about being in charge, you will be. You've been boots on the ground, know the terrain, and have done a fantastic job with no resources. I won't let them take your glory. I just want you to get some sleep."
"I can get rid of bags."
"Not the ones in your aura."
Her mouth hung open, stuck between awe and outrage. "That's invading a girl's privacy."
He shrugged. In a week or less his heightened magical senses from the rush of extra power would fade. However, he had to be careful about how much he revealed about his ability, especially with Dumbledore listening intently from his cell. Let the old fool think he could always read auras.
"Alright. Well having someone to break the day into shifts might be nice. Glyn Ganders is a good guy. Aaren Elm is an amazing auror, but she's a rule monger and will report anything and everything to Commander Bones. She would also be loath to take my orders." Dark glee burned in Tonks's eyes.
Harry chuckled. "I'll get them. Keep up the good work." He took Draco's hand and told Neville to take Draco's other hand. He expected an indigent huff at the very least, but unless he was hallucinating, they reached for each other before he asked. Interesting.
With a violent blush, Luna draped her arms around his neck and they all vanished with a faint pop.
"He's got some truly amazing control if he can be so silent while apparating that many people. Hell, I thought only elves could carry so many people," Tonks said.
"That's correct. Even I can only carry two, and that only within 100 or so miles."
"He's changing the world."
"But without guidance, what sort of world is he crafting?"
"A better one than you could turn out," Tonks sneered. As someone who could change her appearance on a whim, Tonks had always found something off about Dumbledore. It was sweet vindication seeing him striped of his illusions. No one had believed when she called him out as a liar in this very school seven years ago. She smirked.
"You aren't at all concerned that he's been absorbing the dark magic from Death Eaters? What do you think that does to him?"
"How do you- Whatever. I'm sure Harry knows what he's doing."
"He seemed a bit unhinged just now. How many did he drain in the forest?"
"As many as he had to to save lives."
"At what cost? What has all that power done to the boy he was? What is he becoming?"
"Shut up old man," she snapped. "Harry is doing work you've been too cowardly or weak to do yourself. How could you let Death Eaters sacrifice children on your lands for years?"
Dumbledore hung his head. "I was arrogant. I didn't heed a warning from someone who would have made a powerful ally had I acted. But," he said meeting Tonk's gaze, "I'm more concerned about the new Dark Lord growing right under our noses while everyone praises him."
"You're just a jealous, manipulative old coot scrambling for an ounce of control. Well you won't get it over me."
She turned away, but as she did, Dumbledore caught a flash of uncertainty in her dark eyes. He smirked.
Harry insisted that Hermione stay and rest in the infirmary during the meeting.
"My perspective is important," Hermione whined from under the covers Harry tucked her into.
"And you'll give her your statement in an hour or two."
"I want to hear what you all went through."
"Then ask us."
A yawn cut her off.
"See?" he said. "You're tired. Rest. We'll be back soon."
Hermione huffed and stuck her tongue out, but stopped trying to squirm out from the too tight blankets.
"I'll stay with her," Luna said. "I won't have much more insight than Neville."
"Thanks Luna." Harry kissed Hermione's forehead, squeezed Luna's shoulder, and left with Draco and Neville.
As they made their way towards the Headmasters office. Neville spoke.
"So," he said. "You and Hermione."
"I'll give you whatever details you want," Harry said with a smirk, "if you tell me what's going on between you two."
The boys looked at each other sheepishly.
"You noticed," Neville said.
He received a quick jab to the ribs. Draco would have denied anything.
"Ouch Draco. What? You'd rather I lie? To Harry?"
Draco huffed.
"Look, we don't know what it is. It's new," Neville said.
"Fair. I never hoped to move beyond you two tolerating each other. From what I heard you weren't exactly the president of each other's fan clubs."
Draco grimaced and looked at the floor. Neville stopped, turned the blond to face him, and lifted his chin. "We have some trust issues to work out, "he said once he was gazing into those glacial blues. "But I believed his apology. Once we had that chat with Luna I realized my issues with girls might be that I'm chasing cauldrons when I need a broomstick."
Draco got so wrapped up in Neville's evergreen eyes flaked with gold that he forgot Harry stood feet away.
"You saying you want to take me for a ride, Longbottom?"
Neville's eyes widened and grip tightened on Draco's chill. "Very much," he growled. He kissed the blond fiercely and lifted him off the ground by his ass. Draco squealed against his lips and wrapped his legs around Neville's sculpted waist. His fingers tangled in his silky hair and as their tongues fought for dominance, Draco's dick twitched and firmed against Neville's abs.
Harry's chuckle brought them back to the world around them.
"While a demonstration would be entertaining. Amelia is not a patient woman."
"Right." Neville turned and began walking with Harry, Draco still held to his chest.
"Put me down you great oaf!"
"So, my lord," Neville said, cool as could be. "How was it with Hermione?"
"You really want to know?"
Neville noded. When Draco began to beat at his chest and insist to be put down this instant, Neville silenced him with a charm and threw him over his shoulder. When that didn't prove enough to subdue the boy, he swatted his pert ass.
Once Draco hung limp, resigned to the indignation, Neville tenderly rubbed his stinging butt. Harry chuckled and began to share some intimate details. As Neville kept rubbing absently, Draco's boner grew against his shoulder.
In the headmaster's office, Amelia Bones and Minerva McGonagall sat behind the headmaster's desk in complete silence. At precisely five thirty, a smart rap sounded at the door. With a wave of McGonagall's hand, the three boys were let in.
"Sit," she said.
They obliged and sat in the three empty armchairs facing the desk.
McGonagall had transformed the space, for redecorated was far too gentle a term. Where Dumbledore had crammed the space with eclectic mismatched furniture cluttered with enchanted knick-knacks, McGonagall kept a near spartan office. All the furniture matched in olive, oak, and other earth tones. The walls were a deep burgundy, and the only bright points of colour were the exquisite landscape paintings on every wall. The only other nod to decorating, beside the customary portraits of past headmasters, was an ornate bookshelf that held leather bound books, the sorting hat, and replicas of all four founders' relics. Harry, of course, had the authentic sword of Gryffindor, but Slytherin's Locket, Ravenclaw's Diadem, and Hufflepuff's Cup had all been turned into horcruxes by Voldemort and destroyed.
After exchanging strained pleasantries, all five set about thoroughly describing the night before from each point of view.
Amelia had accompanied aurors to the castle herself. Between the bureaucratic red tape, general disarray at the ministry as they set up to hold a vote of no confidence for Fudge, and wards preventing teleportation into the grounds, they'd arrived late. The group helped get the Greengrass sisters to the castle and took all the Death Eaters to prison.
"There is also the issue of Dumbledore," Amelia said with one cocked brow.
"We planned to run our own investigation before bringing him to trial. He's been forthcoming providing information," Harry said.
Amelia seemed to consider for a time, then waved the matter off to hear everyone's versions of events first.
McGonagall and Neville created a solid picture of the preparations they made in the castle with the help of Harry's stags.
Draco recounted the conversation with the centaurs, Harry's work inspiring the students, and the ritual.
As Harry finished by filling in details. Amelia and Minerva's brows knit together in nearly identical looks of growing concern.
"The few that got away don't concern me as much as this 'Dark Lady'," Amelia said when he finished. "You said she was Voldemort?"
"In part," he said. "I think whatever plane or reality exists beyond the veil warps the spirit after a time. She seemed to be many beings at once in the vision."
"But distinctly female?"
"I don't know. In the vision, whatever it was absorbed two girls before inhabiting Lucius. Maybe that tipped the scales toward female."
"But whatever it was, you didn't feel it in the clearing?"
"I didn't feel it through the rift before it closed either."
"And my fathers' body went missing in the confusion," Draco added, his face blank.
Amelia let out a long breath. "We have to assume whatever it is made it through until we have the final three in custody and find Lucius. Harry, I need to take Albus with me."
"Excuse me?"
"While I recognize that this is a privately operated institution, this case is simply too important. If Dumbledore has been covering up Death Eater activity for more than fifty years on the grounds, I need information from him that will be easier to extract with the authorized use of veritaserum."
Harry thought for a tense moment, but nodded. McGonagall bristled at not being asked or even consulted, but stayed silent.
"And, of course, Severus Snape."
"No."
"Excuse me?"
"No. He's in the midst of proving himself."
"He can do so in trial," Amelia said. "He's a Death Eater."
"Who helped train the students more adamantly than any other staff member. I have had him watched very closely. Plus, he has already stood trial for his crimes."
"His testimony is necessary."
"Harry," McGonagall said." Give it some thought. There's nothing to gain going to bat for Severus Snape."
"He's still a teacher at this school."
"Not a trusted one.'
Harry and McGonagall stared each other down for several moments. They were interrupted by a knock at the door.
Severus Snape let himself in. "Though I would pay a great deal of money to see your fathers' reaction to a Potter defending me boy, Madam Bones is right. I will comply."
Harry inclined his head before turning back to Amelia. "I hope," he said," that you will let us borrow Tonks a while longer."
"She had invaluable insights on how best to defend the castle," McGonagall added.
"That may be wise," Amelia said.
"Though she would never let you know, constant vigilance has left her rather exhausted," Harry said. "If I could request Ganders or Elm placed under her command we would all rest easier."
Amelia laughed. "Elm won't be pleased. Very well. Neither have much of a load right now. You may have them both if you and McGonagall will give a statement asserting Hogwarts is working with the ministry on this and that you'll cooperate fully."
Harry looked for McGonagall's assent before agreeing. "We will say we have good relations with and will aid your department. Not Fudge."
Amelia grinned. "I hoped you would say that."