Chapter 4

"You've been happier," Martinez remarked at lunch. After shifting in his chair he added quietly, "You know we'd love you no matter what."

"Even if I'm friendly with Tom Riddle?" Harry asked because if they were having this conversation might as well be clear about it.

"Dude, you can choke on his dick every day for all we care. Life is short, be happy and all that crap," Pike said waving his fork.

"Man, what Healer did you get? I want the same one," Harry joked.

"Fuck off."

"Did your vacations get approved?" Harry asked. It was not a subtle change of subject but he had reached his limit for talking about Riddle. Pike and Martinez nodded.

"Still camping?" Pike grimaced.

"Yes, when it's your turn to pick our vacation spot you can choose casinos. Again," Harry said with a roll of his eyes.

"Do you mind if I invite some of the boys for the weekend? They'd really enjoy camping," Martinez asked as he moved his salad around the plate and bit into it with a grimace.

"Yeah, sure."

Both Pike and Martinez stopped eating to stare at him.

"Just like that?" Pike asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, no problem."

"Potter," Martinez hissed dropping his fork. Harry moved his vegetables with determination and avoided eye contact.

Pike dropped his head at the table and wailed. Harry shushed him and looked around to see many heads turning in their direction.

"You are going to kill us aren't you?" Pike accused. Loudly. God he was going to leave the cafeteria in handcuffs if Pike didn't shut up.

"Don't be dramatic," Harry whispered. "We just. Uh. Are doing a small detour from our scenic vacation. And maybe having a backup is not a bad idea."

"Potter. Explain," Martinez barked. Man, he needed new friends. Preferably some that didn't know him too well.

"Look, my thesis project is due soon and I really think I can blow it out of the park. I just need, uh, your trust?"

"Fuck, I'll have to pack an arsenal won't I?" Martinez complained.

"I'm expecting minimal trouble," Harry placated.

"It's going to be a shit show," Pike said with certainty.

"So, what's that about you killing Pike and Martinez?" Riddle asked the moment Harry was out of the floo. Harry grabbed the coffee from Riddle's hand and sipped.

"Just how many informants do you have?" he wondered, bothered by how unbothered he was. Riddle's smile was all teeth. Yeah, stupid question. Lots.

"Pike was being dramatic," Harry said as they made their way to the cafeteria. "I just told him of a small change in our vacation."

"The camping trip?"

"The fuck?" Harry shot a wild-eye look at Riddle. That was stepping over creepy and dancing towards hair-raising.

"It's not exactly a secret if you invite half the Auror force. Apparently, you are expecting some trouble?" Riddle asked mildly as if he didn't care either way. Harry looked at him suspiciously.

"There will be no trouble," Harry said firmly. Maybe if he said it enough times people would start believing him. He opened the door for Riddle with his shoulder and they entered the noisy cafeteria.

At Riddle's deadpan face, Harry amended, "I'm expecting minimal trouble at worst." Riddle huffed and did not bother to respond as they grabbed their plates and paid.

"When is this again?" Riddle asked as he took out his planner from his pocket and wedged it between their plates.

Harry jabbed at his eggs. "There's no need for you to come. It will be fine." Harry was insulted by the skeptical eyebrow raise. It's not like Riddle had the knowledge to back up that claim. Pike and Martinez on the other hand...well, they had more reasons to suspect.

Harry glanced down at Riddle's planner to see his name written on the 8:00-9:00 am block from Monday to Friday for the entire month. Harry laughed. The creep, he thought fondly. Riddle didn't even seem remotely embarrassed.

"It's the second week of September but most of the Aurors are only going for the first weekend so I'm planning to go on my, uh, field trip? the first Saturday." He pointed out the week, "You're busy." The entire week was a pack full of meetings and the weekend had social events.

Riddle turned his full attention to Harry. "What is it that you are planning?"

Harry's eyes lighted with enthusiasm and he leaned forward. Riddle unconsciously imitated him.

"So I've had this theory for a while," Harry whispered. "It's just something I've been working on in my free time and last week I finally cracked it. I believe I know where Atlantis is." Harry's face almost hurt from how wide he was smiling. "The historians had it all wrong, it's not buried at sea. It's inside an underground cave and the entrance is below the lake. I used last weekend to scout the entrance and I'm almost certain it's there."

"If you're expecting trouble I'm guessing finding the lost city of Atlantis is not the most important part of the story?" Riddle asks with a sardonic smile. Harry sat down and backed off when he realized how close he was to Riddle's face.

"No. I believe that opening the cave will unleash something," Harry said with barely suppressed glee. Relishing in the opportunity to share his findings with another person. "Everything I've ever found paints a much darker picture of how Atlantis fell than what the history books tell."

Riddle frowned. "What's your theory?"

"The books say that the ritual that fell Atlantis had something to do with everlasting life. I believe they were successful with their ritual, just not how they wanted it. The runes they used were wrong. It's not everlasting life that the runes describe but lack of death with a hunger for life. They were not granted everlasting life, but deathlessness."

Riddle frowned, not convinced. "You believe there are people still alive in those caves?"

"No, not alive," Harry gushed, his eyes bright with unholy glee, "but unable to die."

Riddle's eye widened, "Inferi?"

"Inferi, zombies, animated corpses, something in that family," Harry said carelessly. "My thesis theory is that the ritual that was supposed to grant immortality for the Royal Family and palace officials instead created immortal cannibal-like creatures that later went to kill the rest of the population, possibly passing on the curse. And that's why Atlantis fell with no survivors."

"Why cannibals?"

"In its original language, the rune translates as lack of death with a hunger for life. I've seen a similar set of rune work in Brazil. It was...uh, quite literal. The results were not pretty. My thesis professor agrees that my interpretation is possible but she doesn't think it's likely."

"I'm going." Riddle took a quill and crossed out the entire week. "So," Riddle smirked, "Harry Potter, with you its 'minimal trouble' expecting an entire city of Inferi-like creatures? Good to know." Harry loved that teasing expression in Riddle's face. He flushed and went back to his breakfast.

"It's only a theory. And it has been more than a millennium. They are probably slowly walking dust particles by now."

Maybe.

"You know, when I graduated from Hogwarts I wanted to travel the world but I got sucked into the Ministry black hole instead. I wished I had you back then."

Life with the Dursleys had not prepared Harry with the emotional tools for anything other than anger, jealousy, and disappointment. Adulthood had only marginally helped.

"I'm sure there was a Gryffindor you could have convinced," Harry deflected.

"None of them would have been you."

Harry bit his plastic fork and wished for a sudden emergency. It's a shame that the Ministry was never invaded unless Harry himself was behind it.

"It worked out for you. You were able to be the youngest Minister and got reelected two times."

"True," Riddle said with the most insufferable look, and thankfully let the subject change.

"Martinez, wait up!"

Martinez looked back to see Black and Potter Sr. on his heels. As he waited to see what they wanted he called on all the patience his body had to spare. It was not much.

While no one wanted to acknowledge it, the Auror force was divided into two camps. There were Potter's friends and Martinez's group. Martinez had not set out to divide the force when he came to this world but he was unable to stand Potter and Black for more than necessary. In his world, neither James Potter nor Sirius Black had been part of the force because they had been dead for a long time.

The only Potter he was used to working with was the incredibly talented, exceptionally stupid, highly competent Harry Potter. And while Harry Potter more often than not, ignored commands and had gone to do what the fuck he wanted to do, Harry Potter had never lost a fight, left a man behind, or failed a mission. The same could not be said about these two fuckers that thought everything was a game.

He wasn't the only one that was unimpressed with the duo trying to relive their golden years from Hogwarts at the force. Sadly the name Potter and Black carried weight and as much as they fucked up, they only got a mild slap in the hand. And that's without getting at the fact that they abandoned their Harry Potter. Isolated him to the point he felt unwanted, unloved, and so depressed he preferred the relief of death to this life. Even without ever meeting their Harry, Martinez would bet he was the same intelligent, caring idiot with a golden heart and did not deserve what had happened to him.

"What's this I hear about a department camping trip?" Black asked with a smile on his punchable face.

"It's not a department camping trip." Martinez turned and pointedly started walking, hoping he could escape this conversation.

"Well, not officially but everyone's talking about it. I'm great at BBQ and we have this huge tent that we use for the Quiddich World Cup that we could bring."

Martinez closed his eyes and pinched his nose. He looked at the ceiling for godly intervention but no such luck. "Neither of you are invited."

"What! Why?" Black squawked. Because I despise you, but since it was still work hours, "Because it's my vacation and I don't want to deal with either of you." Dealing with them during work hours was enough of a chore.

"That's harsh," Potter Sr. admonished with a frown. "If everyone else was invited..."

"Was I not clear? Not invited. Everyone was not invited. My friends were invited. For fuck's sake, why are we having this conversation? If you want a camping trip plan it yourself."

After that Martinez heard that Black and Potter had been whining about it in the break room. In less than an hour, Martinez was called to a meeting where he had to explain how the camping trip was during his vacation days and in no part related to his job.

And no, he was not excluding Potter Sr and Black as retaliation for the prank they pulled last week. (Even if he hadn't forgotten it nor forgiven them). Martinez could see how management was just about to force him to invite the entire force for a 'team-building exercise' or at least not specifically exclude anyone. If that happened, Martinez was going to give the fuckers some other direction and let them camp out in the middle of a fucking bear-infested place by themselves.

Martinez knew the moment Riddle intervened. The abruptness of the change in tone spoke of someone higher up intervening and he knew no one else that would do it. Management did a one-eighty and told Black and Potter that it was a private event and to coordinate their own team-building exercise if they wanted one.

The play had not won them any points with the rest of the force. It was tacky to invite yourself to someone else vacation. Most of Martinez's friends knew that Harry was going and someone must have talked about it because the hour before lunch all anyone could talk about was how Potter and Black had wanted to crash the vacation of the son and godson they had abandoned.

Harry was getting ready to go to lunch when there was a tentative knock on his door. "Come in," he called. His eyes widened at seeing his Godfather. This was the first time Sirius had sought him out in three years.

"Sirius, how can I help you?"

Sirius was shifting uncomfortably at the door. Harry watched him dispassionately and that seemed to make him even more anxious. "I'm just wondering... if you might want to have lunch with me today?" he asked tentatively. Why now? Harry wondered.

"Thanks for the invite, but I already have plans." Had this been three years ago he would have jumped at the opportunity. But not now. Not after three years.

"Ah. That's ok. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Not possible." After an awkward silence, Harry pressed, "Is that all?"

"You know I'm here if you ever want to talk."

"Hmm."

A minute passed before Sirius spoke again. "People are saying we abandoned you." Sirius looked simultaneously heartbroken and defensive about the accusation. Ah. That's the reason for the sudden need to connect. Harry thought his heart couldn't possibly break more after so many years but he felt it break all the same. Harry took a moment to compose himself, cleared his face from all expressions, and willed his hands to not shake.

"It's that what you think?" Sirius asked.

"I didn't know my opinion on the subject mattered."

Sirius sighed as if his response frustrated him. "Look, kid, I've told you a thousand times, you only have to apologize."

Kid. He was a twenty-seven-year-old man and Sirius still thought him as a kid that needed to apologize to the parents that had cut him more than a decade ago for not being the ornament they had wanted.

He didn't need this bullshit from Sirius. Harry looked at the clock. He was going to miss out on the chicken. "I'm going to lunch, Sirius. Have a nice day," Harry said as he pushed past Sirius to get to the door.

"Lily and James are good parents," Sirius insisted almost desperately. "You only have to apologize. It's not like it was with me."

Harry let the door shutting respond for him.

There was no chicken left. Harry picked the soggy fish with more violence than necessary and dropped his plate at their table. By Martinez and Pike's faces, he wasn't the only one in a foul mood.

"Let's go drinking tonight," Harry suggested. "I could do with a shot." Or the bottle.

"Your family sucks," Pike responded.

"They are not my family," Harry snapped. "Their son died."

"I could do with a drink," Martinez agreed.

Harry waited by the floo for Pike and Martinez so they could go pre-game at Pike's house and change from their work clothes and then hit a bar.

"You waiting for me?" Riddle said with an insufferable smirk, stopping only when he was a breath away from full-body touching Harry.

Harry snorted, "Not everything is about you, Riddle."

"Where are you going?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think I'm going somewhere?"

Riddle huffed.

"Out drinking," Harry relented.

"Potter! Stop flirting. Let's go."

"Wanker. Bye, Riddle," Harry said as he pushed from the wall and followed Pike to the floo.

"So then he said it was a fucking team-building exercise that we were excluding them."

"Fuckers."

They ended on a small muggle bar near Pike's house. The inside was all pannel wood, low lights, sticky tabletops, and cigar smoke. Harry didn't want Riddle crashing his party and he wouldn't put it past the man if Harry were in a Wizarding bar. He wanted to get drunk, talk, and not have to worry about the Wizarding World's most powerful man at his heels. Harry signaled for another round of shots. They tasted like shit and the smell almost made him gag.

"To not having those fuckers in our vacation," Harry raised his shot to a round of cheers and they all downed the shot with a grimace.

"Soooo," Pike started.

"Fuck. No. Please," Harry begged.

"What's up with you and Riddle?" Pike continued because he has never known mercy. "You were looking real cozy just then."

"Nothing is happening and nothing will happen," Harry said with more confidence than he felt.

Harry knew where this game was headed. Hell, he was an active and joyful participant in where it was headed. Soon enough they were going to have sex. Because he wanted it and Riddle wanted it, and there's going to be a conveniently placed bed nearby.

"You are both consenting adults," Martinez pointed out. Harry felt betrayed; Martinez was usually the voice of reason.

"What happened to Riddle being a terrible fuck?" Pike asked with a shit-eating grin.

"I stand by that. He's probably a terrible fuck." Harry downed half of his beer before reluctantly admitting, "But I still want to fuck him."

"Why don't you then? It's clear he's picking up what you are putting down."

"We're going to fuck it up. 100% sure," Harry started destroying the label on his beer, "You think I can have a one-night stand," at Pike's loud snort, Harry amended, "or multiple one-night stands and then be like 'see ya, Riddle. Thanks for scratching that itch but I'm going to go be with someone with similar morals, values, and political inclination now'?"

"He'd kill you," Pike agreed. "Might still be worth it."

"He's better here," Martinez defended, but even he looked unsure.

"So I'd probably be charged with some fabricated crime and locked in Azkaban never to be seen again."

"We'd break you out," Pike cooed.

Harry clicked his beer bottle with Pike's. "Thanks, man. Love you too."

He had to do something soon because any moment now Harry was going to say fuck it and kiss that fucking smirk off of Riddle and not care about the consequences. Because Riddle was hot. And funny. And intelligent. And interesting. And fuck if men in power didn't do it for him.

But Riddle was also the unofficial Dictator of Wizarding Britain. And while Riddle had been careful to show him his best side up until now, he was also trying to seduce him. When the seducing was complete the other shoe will drop.

"What's the chance that you both act like normal people? You know the used to know each other, had sex that one time and never spoke again because it was awkward routine?" Pike asked.

"I don't know about Riddle but I can be the king of awkwardness."

"I can believe that."

"Fucker. I'll just start dating other people and move Riddle firmly in the flirty friends' category. There's less chance of having to move out of Britain in the middle of the night that way."

"Flirty friends' category?" Martinez asked with a judgmental eyebrow raise.

"Friends that sometimes harmlessly flirt with no intention of taking it further? It has to exist; there must be other poor souls that had a devastatingly handsome friend that they can't have sex with."

"You know me," Pike wiggled his eyebrows. Harry rolled his eyes and signaled for another round. He was going to get plastered.