Come Together Chapter 5 - Pub
AN:
Oni: Not gonna lie, I'm not happy with this chapter. However, I've decided to post it in hopes that the next chapter will be better. I wanted to speed it up to a certain point, but the stuff in this chapter is supposed to set up for later chapters. I'm sorry if it's not up to par. I hope you enjoy it, but if you don't I understand.
Tom: Oni does not own the MCU or Harry Potter.
Oni: ONWARDS!
Tom had never been in a muggle pub before. It was, thankfully, not much different from a magical pub like the Leaky Cauldron, just without all the cloaks, wandwaving, and floating objects. Surprisingly enough they were all transported to London, and Tom had to pretend to not look at the Leaky Cauldron, which was by Fate's design next door. Curiously too, was that the muggle pub he was in was called 'The Leaky Pot'. He wondered, briefly, if the two pubs were connected, a silent bridge between the magical world and the mundane world. However, if Grindelwald continued his reign of terror, and the threat of a Witch Hunt in Europe, all the bridges would have to be shut down. As is, the pub was devoid of customers before Tom and the soldiers arrived, which supported his theory even more.
Curiously, he was not arrested as soon as he set foot in England, which relieved Tom to no end. He assumed that since the battle was fought in Austria, the Ministry of Magic wiped their hands of the issue. Politicians, he scoffed to himself, always looking out for themselves.
Since most of the returned soldiers that weren't injured were all here drinking in celebration, it was rather crowded. Fortunately, the bar itself was devoid of people, probably because one could not lean back and relax upon a barstool. Tom himself didn't really care, so here he was, sitting at the bar next to Barnes. He had changed his clothes during the ride, to those riding with him's surprise and entertainment, into something a little more muggle. A white button down, black slacks with suspenders, black dress shoes and a black waistcoat had all appeared from his rather torn cloak.
"You know, you could call me Bucky. Pretty sure you're considered my friend." Barnes had laughed out.
"Do all Americans eventually have some odd nickname for each other?" Tom had replied exasperatedly, "I've heard you call Dugan 'Dum Dum' more than once, and Rogers seems to have acquired the moniker of 'Captain America'."
"Aw, don't tell me you're friends back at magic school never gave you a nickname!"
"..." Tom blinked at Barnes blankly, and a look of understanding crossed the soldier's face.
"...You didn't have friends at magic school, did you?" he finally managed to say after a few seconds of silence passed between them.
"Well, they would call me 'The Heir of Slytherin', which is more of a title than a nickname, but the name I've got for myself is far superior."
"Oh really," Barnes said with a smirk, "and what's that?"
"Lord Voldemort." Tom replied with a grin.
"That definitely sounds...wizard-y I guess," Barnes began slowly, the words 'sounds like a super villain' went unsaid, "Sounds almost French though."
"It is, it's French for 'Flight of Death'." Tom stated proudly, "And an anagram for my full name."
"And..." Barnes was really grinning widely now, to Tom's confusion, "how long did it take you to make up that name?"
At this, Tom frowned.
"...a couple months, at least. I spent most of my hours in History of Magic working it out in Fifth Year..."
Apparently, Barnes could contain it no longer, and began to laugh. Tom tilted his head in confusion. Was it something he said? Was Barnes laughing at him? Barnes continued to pound the bar with his fist, and called our for another drink for the two of them.
"Kid, that's cute. Sounded like you wanted to show me a macaroni picture that you slaved all day over!"
"Are you comparing me to a toddler?!"
Barnes...Bucky's laughter was the only answer he received.
"Well, I'll tell you what. If there's any need for all of us to go under code names, I'll use Lord Voldemort."
Tom smiled, it was nice hearing someone else say that name. It gave him a sense of validation of his efforts. Granted, perhaps the Knights of Walpurgis plan needed to wait until after the war, and the insignia drastically redesigned (it bore far too much of a resemblance to the HYDRA insignia to his liking), but he could still make his place in the world. And perhaps, if Fate designed it that way, it was with these muggle soldiers. Tom's fingers brushed the head of a sleeping Jormungand, who was draped around his neck and doused with a more advanced version of the Notice-Me-Not charm, which only affects those who have not seen the snake prior to the charm. Thus Barnes and Tom's other ex-cellmates (along with Morita, who were happily chatting and singing at a table in the room past the bar) were the only muggles able to see the asp.
"I suppose that's the best I can ask for." Tom eventually said with a sigh.
At this point the bartender managed to finally reach the bar after getting drinks to the other customers. The reason the man had waited so long became evident when he sent a pointed look at Tom, and then Tom's sleeve, where his wand holster was hidden inside.
"Would you like some of our drinks from our...storage next door?" the bartender asked between him and Bucky, his eyes going to the other members of the room as if they were listening in.
The gears in Tom's mind began to quickly grind, crunching out the hidden meaning behind the bartender's words before remembering what was next door.
"Oh, so you keep the extra stuff in that abandoned lot?" Bucky asked in confusion, "Huh, I didn't know you guys owned it. Looks pretty run down to me."
At this, the bartender smiled, and gave Tom a knowing look. In turn, Tom gave Bucky a mysterious smile.
"A Butterbeer for me, if you please. And, ah...Ogden's Old Firewhisky for Sergeant Barnes here."
After the bartender had smiled and left,Tom turned to a bewildered Bucky. Obviously he would have heard of neither drink, and both had questionable names, the Firewhisky more so. A grin made its way onto his face.
"Next door, Bucky, is the Leaky Cauldron. It's the magical pub here in London, as well as the entrance to Diagon Alley. Remember me explaining that? This pub is probably where muggleborns would bring their muggle friends and family, as they wouldn't be able to see the magical counterpart. Of course, you could enter if a wizard or witch guided you in, but for a large party of muggles to one magical that would be ridiculous."
The bartender returned with a large mug filled with Butterbeer and passed it to Tom, smiling before passing the horn of Firewhisky to Bucky. Bucky stared at the horn, nearly marveling at its Teutonic design.
"So, you guys really do live like it's the Medieval times or something?"
Both Tom and the bartender laughed. Coming from the muggle side of things, the Wizarding World did come of as incredibly old-fashioned. This made Tom look up and study the bartender carefully. He was young, maybe on or two years older than Tom himself. In fact, the face was rather...familiar.
"So, seeing as you're not in the other pub, I'm assuming you're a muggleborn?" Tom asked in a quiet voice, to which the bartender nodded ruefully.
"That's right, graduated Hogwarts a year ago. Got a job here, but definitely not staying."
"Ah, something came up for me over the summer." Tom nodded to Bucky and the motioned to the rest of the soldiers, "I think it counts as skipped Seventh Year."
"Well, you can only fight a war once. Come back to school when the war's over, eh?" the bartender, "As for me, my NEWTS are what will get me into the Ministry one day. I'll be Minister of Magic! The first muggle born one!"
"Did Divination Class tell you that?" Tom asked suspiciously, making the bartender sniff.
"I'll have you know it's not as wooly as some people say it is!"
"Ravenclaw, then." Tom snarked as an answer.
"Yes, actually! Nobby Leach, class of 1942." the bartender replied with pride, "And if it weren't for the fact that you're hanging around so many muggles, I would've taken you for a Slytherin!"
"Ah, but you see..." Tom sniped back with a grin, "I am a Slytherin. The Heir, in fact."
At this, Leach's eyes widened. Poor Bucky was attempting to follow along in the conversation, piecing together what Tom had explained on their way back from the facility. Unfortunately, too many new words, phrases, and inside jokes were being thrown around. He was at a loss on what to think, but he knew the look in the bartender's eyes was one of shock and a little bit of horror.
"Dear Merlin, you're Tom Riddle!" Leach all but gasped, "Bloody Hell, have you done a turn! Coming into the muggle side of the pub, wearing muggle clothes, and talking like nothing's different! Can't say I'm not happy by this revelation, you seem to be...friendlier now."
"I suppose I turned around, hm?" Tom murmured quietly, almost to himself, before turning to Leach, "There's a bad plot going on, Grindelwald's doing more than we thought. I may or may not have gotten on his followers' bad side."
"Those were the other two guys at the facility, right? The ones with the gold symbol on their...cloaks?" Bucky managed to add, halt this was something he actually knew.
"That's right." Tom answered with a nod, "And they're bound to come after me now. Very few wizards can cast Fiendfyre, let alone control it. It's a...type of dark magic."
"Some things never change then..." Leach muttered with a rueful grin, before soldiers came in ordering more drinks.
When Leach had left, Bucky turned to Tom in half bewilderment and then shook his head in exasperation. He then proceeded to take his horn of Firewhisky and took a long gulp, setting the horn down heavily afterwards. Almost immediately smoke began to billow out of Bucky's red, surprised face, and Tom couldn't help but laugh at the sight. After a few seconds, Bucky's ears stopped pouring out smoke, leaving the poor man to cough and sputter freely.
"So, here's what I don't get. Why keep everything separate?" Bucky asked after a few moments.
"Because muggles have been known to be afraid of something they can't explain, and despise gifts that they don't have." Tom explained, sipping at his Butterbeer, "It's human nature, really. It's to prevent war between our kinds. Which, unfortunately, is exactly what Grindelwald wants, and he's working with HYDRA to achieve those means. Somehow, this Schmidt character has gotten his hands on some powerful magical artifact. Do you remember the blue beams and glowing weapons? That's magic, in a pure form. This is bad news for both the Wizarding World and your World, because we'll both be crushed under Grindelwald and HYDRA's foot."
Bucky let out a low whistle.
"Well, that would explain it."
Before they could get into any more discussion about the Wizarding World, Rogers showed up. Bucky stood up to congratulate him belatedly on his transformation and his promotion, hugging the tall man and patting him heavily on the back.
"I'm looking for men to join me in fighting HYDRA." Rogers said, cutting straight to the point, "You know any guys willing to join?"
At his words, Bucky ends up turning to where Morita and his ex-cellmates were laughing heartily at a joke Dugan had just told, and cocked his head over to where they sat.
"There's those bunch of bozos that'll help. Good teamwork, but they're all idiots." Bucky replied, causing Tom to snort into his Butterbeer.
Rogers simply rolled his eyes and marched over to where the men sat. Tom craned his neck a little to see how the meeting would play out. Dugan and Jones slapped the super soldier on the back before offering him a seat at their table. Once Captain Rogers had seated, he proceeded to tell the men the same thing he had asked Tom and Bucky.
"So, let's get this straight." Dugan started, before guzzling his beer down.
"We barely got out of there alive, and you want us to go back?" Jones asked nigh incredulously.
"Pretty much." Rogers answered truthfully.
"Sounds rather fun, actually." Falsworth eventually said, looking around the table with a smile.
Morita belches loudly before grinning and giving the Captain an "I'm in."
Dernier began to shout something animatedly in French, before Jones replied in kind. With a shout of something in French, Dernier grabbed Jones' hand and shook it heartily in happiness (probably because the American could actually speak French) before the two looked back at Captain Rogers.
"We're in." Jones said, motioning to the two of them.
This made Rogers turn to Dugan, who raised his mug to take another drink from it.
"Hell, I'll always fight. But you got to do one thing for me."
"What's that?" Rogers asked nigh sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.
"Open a tab!" Dugan answered with gusto, raising his mug high, Rogers standing up to do just that.
"Well, that was easy." Morita commented from behind the tall soldier.
"Another round." Rogers tells Leach, who looks at the men incredulously.
"Where are they putting all this stuff?" Leach wonders aloud in exasperation.
By the time Rogers got back to Bucky, Tom was attempting not to laugh at the whole situation.
"See? I told you. They're all idiots." Bucky told Rogers with certainty.
"How about you?" Rogers asked Bucky with a knowing smile, "You ready to follow Captain America into the jaws of death?"
To Tom's surprise, Bucky shook his head.
"Hell, no." Bucky told him, before continuing, "That little guy from Brookly who was too dumb not to run away from a fight. I'm following him."
The smile on Rogers' face could be compared to that of a Lumos Maxima. He then turned hopefully to Tom, blue eyes akin to that if puppy dogs.
"I'm not in your military, but if there was a way, know that I would join." Tom answered solemnly, staring at the wall that most likely led to the bar's entrance to The Leaky Cauldron, "Things are getting far too dangerous around here not to."
"But you're keeping the outfit, right?" Bucky said after Rogers had taken Tom's answer to mean yes.
"You know what?" Rogers replied, glancing at the Captain America touring poster that had a large red stamp claims that it was cancelled, "It's kind of growing on me."
Suddenly, all the singing began to putter out, and the reason for it made her way to where Rogers was standing. It was that woman from before, the one with the chemistry with Rogers. She wore a tight fitting dress, Gryffindor crimson. Tom wondered why that was such a popular color, but then again, she didn't wear it for him. Bucky stood up in attention, and Tom followed suit, regarding her with calculating blue eyes.
"Captain." was what she said.
"Agent Carter." returned Rogers, and Tom could almost see the connection between them.
Was this what love was? Was this the kind of connection he was denied by the circumstances of his birth? Just looking at them made his own heart race, as if piggybacking on it. It was both painful and exhilarating to look at.
"Ma'am." Bucky nearly stuttered out, staring at her figure.
"Howard has some equipment for you to try." Agent Carter told Rogers, not even glancing at Bucky, "Tomorrow morning?"
"Sounds good." Rogers answered, watching as Agent Carter turned to glance at the table Dugan and the others were around, loudly singing.
"I see your top squad is prepping for duty." she commented with a wry smirk.
"You don't like music?" Bucky asked, attempting to flirt, but Agent Carter's eyes never left Rogers.
"I do, actually. I might even, when this is all over, go dancing." she replied.
"Then what are you waiting for?" Tom cut in, trying to both save Bucky from the embarrassment and push Rogers to bloody ask her to dance.
"The right partner." she answered, still staring at Rogers, "O-Eight hundred, Captain." Agent Carter added, walking away, not even glancing at Tom as she did so.
"Yes, ma'm. I'll be there." Rogers blurted out mechanically, still looking at her retreating form.
Tom coughed into his fist before looking pointedly at Rogers, who turned to the teenage wizard in confusion. Honestly it was painful how clueless he was. His head nodded over to the leaving Agent Carter.
"She didn't have to dress up like that, you know." Tom told him as nonchalantly as possible, trying very hard not to spell it out for the man, "Perhaps you shouldn't let that go to waste."
"I can't." Rogers replied, shaking his head, "She and Howard Stark are...fondue?"
For a couple seconds Bucky and Tom stared at Rogers as if the soldier were a zoo animal, before catching onto what was happening and promptly broke out into voracious laughter. One look at Rogers' confused face made them laugh even harder, if that was possible.
"Captain Rogers..." Tom gasped out, trying to catch his breath, "Fondue is...cheese and bread...it doesn't mean...oh Merlin..."
Understanding dawned on Rogers, and he quickly, though not gracefully, he turned around to catch up with Agent Carter, who had stopped to see what was happening with a raised eyebrow. Tom inconspicuously slid his wand out of his holster, casting a similar charm on the pair that he had used on Jormungand. Nobody will disturb them now. And finally his chest could get some peace from the strain watching the two of them tiptoe around each other.
"Agent Carter!" Rogers called out, before jogging up to her, "Uh, I was wondering if you, uh, could teach me how to dance." he began to stumble over his words, not seeing the brilliant smile that appeared on Agent Carter's face, "For, uh, later, when you...start dancing?"
Agent Carter did her best impression of someone considering the notion heavily, though Tom knew from her body language that she was relieved that he finally got the hint. He managed to turn his head away from their private moment, instead shifting his attention to Bucky, who was also trying not to stare at the pair.
"I'm invisible." he mock gasped, "I'm...I'm turning into Steve. It's like some horrible dream."
A chuckle escaped Tom's throat, and internally he realized that this was the most he's laughed he's in life. It was a good feeling. He found it ironic that he felt more at ease here, in this bar, with a sputtering Bucky Barnes, a tableful of soldiers, and the slow dancing Captain Rogers and Agent Carter than he ever had at Hogwarts. Of course, he didn't belong here, but it was alright to pretend for now that he was.
All moments, however, must come to and end.
The tinkle of the bell at the entrance was barely heard above the noise. Two men entered, then three more, slamming the door shut behind them. Each wore Wizarding robes, with a distinct patch of their arms. It seemed that Grindelwald's followers ended up finding him sooner that he had estimated. Immediately the patrons sitting at the front of the pub stood up in surprise, before being blasted into the wall with a flick of a wand. This made the entire pub stand up, and Tom undid the spells on his snake and the couple dancing, who were now standing, ready to fight. One of the wizards, the apparent leader of the group of five, strode out from the crowd, his shrewd eyes landing on Tom.
"I was told of a wizard who was no stranger to the Dark Arts, who's tongue was that of Great Slytherin's, and yet fraternizes with filth." the voice was soft, dangerous, and Tom hid away all his fear and glared.
"That would be me, yes." he answered, his wand already sliding into his palm.
"Then you know that this CANNOT BE ALLOWED!" the wizard roared, and he and his group raised their wands.
A cacophony of spells came from their mouths, and Tom responded in kind. Tables were turned to dust, the soldiers attacking the wizards with broken bottles and mugs. Agent Carter was better prepared, firing her revolver at the men, even managing to hit three down before running out of bullets. Rogers, on the other hand, had taken a broken tabletop and began to use it as a shield (what is with this man and shields? Tom thought to himself).
Tom threw curses upon curses, before he was forced to hold a shield charm to prevent the other patrons from getting killed. From the corner of his eye he saw Leach sneak to the painting on the far end, knocking on it a couple times. Help would hopefully be arriving soon, he wasn't sure how long he could hold up the shield under the barrage of spellfire. Rogers had come foreword as much as he could, but had to run for cover when his makeshift shield was transfigured into mud. Soon enough it was only Tom up against two of Grindelwald's followers. He couldn't use Fiendfyre again, everyone would perish, so had to stick to close quarters spells.
"Baubillious!" he shouted, sending lightning from his wand, which was unfortunately blocked easily by one of the men.
He barely had enough time to put up a shield before he was assaulted by more spells. With a deft wrist he flung dark curse after dark curse, his lips moving almost to fast to see as he attempted to keep up with these men. This was not like before, those wizards had been unprepared and out in the open. Too much could go wrong here. A spell shot over to Grindelwald's followers from behind Tom, catching all three of them unawares. The two wizards were bowled over from the sheer power of the spell, and Tom turned to look behind him.
It was Dumbledore, greying auburn hair and beard furrowing in confusion and surprise. Tom took this moment of surprise to stun the two wizards with stunning spells before tying them up and taking their wands. Once that was done, he turned to Dumbledore and bowed slightly.
"Thank you, Professor."
"Mr. Riddle." Dumbledore croaked out, "I must say, I'm surprised you're here. You have been missing for quite some time."
"I know, sir." Tom replied, "But things happened. The War has changed. It's much worse than what we thought it was. Grindelwald holds power to destroy the world as we know it, and it's in the hands of muggles who have somehow managed to harness magic."
With a flourish of his wand, Dumbledore began to repair the damaged pub. Tables and mugs and bottles flew back to their proper place, awing the soldiers that were watching. It was then that Dumbledore saw that, indeed, everyone except Tom, Leach, the downed wizards and himself were muggles.
"It seems it's not only the War that has changed, Tom." Dumbledore told him softly, eyes twinkling.
"Pardon me," came the voice of Agent Carter, who was marching up to them with a confused Captain Rogers in tow, "But who on Earth are you people?"
"We are wizards, Agent Carter." Tom began before Dumbledore could open his mouth, and a quick glance showed the shock on the older man's face, "These men were followers of Grindelwald, the mind behind Hitler. He and his followers are working with HYDRA, which every soldier here can account for."
"It is dangerous to speak of such things to muggles." Dumbledore said softly, though his eyes conveyed something much different.
"We have no choice." Tom replied with fervor, "The Ministry does nothing, the Aurors have done nothing, and you have done nothing to stop him. Someone has to, and it's through these men, through finding HYDRA."
"Mr. Riddle." Agent Carter said tightly, "I'd like you to follow Captain Rogers in his meeting tomorrow. Howard Stark should see you too."
"Of course, Agent Carter." he bowed slightly to her, and she marched out of the pub with the aforementioned soldier.
Dumbledore' eyes seemed to positively sparkle with an emotion Tom couldn't pinpoint. He craned forward and lowered himself down to the teen's height to whisper in his ear.
"Then I suggest hiding your...friends elsewhere before the Aurors arrive. I will handle them myself.
Tom's eyes began to widen. He almost forgot about the Statute of Secrecy. With a flurry of movement Tom strode with purpose, grabbing Bucky's forearm tightly and telling him to follow his lead. Dugan and the others followed his lead, and they all made their way out of the pub. Just in time, too. As soon as they rounded the corner, Tom heard the tell tale cracks of apparition. Since they were all dressed in muggle clothing, the disguised Aurors passed them by and continued into the pub. They manage to catch up with Agent Carter and Captain Rogers, the latter of which turned to Tom worriedly.
"You guys okay? That was some fight back there."
The men all nodded in affirmation, prompting the Captain to continue.
"So what happens to all the soldiers that didn't leave?"
"They will be Obiviated, memories erased of the entire incident. It's painless, and they won't notice a thing off afterwards." Tom explained quietly.
"Thanks, then, for getting us out of that." Bucky muttered afterwards, the rest of the group mumbling similar sentiments.
Eventually they had to part ways, Agent Carter to give a report on what she had seen to Colonel Philips, and Tom and the soldiers back to the barracks. They said their farewells and made their ways to their destinations. Bucky and Captain Rogers seemed to be whispering to one another, but Tom paid them no heed.
Dumbledore was a very perplexing man, but he truly hoped the man had taken his warning to heart. The look in his eyes made it hard to judge, as Tom couldn't seem to read what it was, but seeing how quickly Tom was tracked down using the Wizarding Rumor Mill, the Professor should at least consider attempting to help...
And yet, hadn't he? He let Tom go, along with the muggles he had befriended, knowing full well that they were going to tell others about the existence of magic. Dumbledore had never taken such liberties with Tom before. Maybe to his Gryffindors, but not to a Slytherin like Tom. All of a sudden, his brain managed to understand what he had seen in his Professor's twinkling eyes.
Pride.
AN:
Oni: Oooogh I hoped you liked it. I promise to make the next one better!
Steve: Don't forget to Follow, Favorite, and Review.
Oni: And I'll see you next time, my pretties!