Welcome to the Jungle

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or Glee. All recognisable characters, content, or locations belong to their respective owners. No copyright infringement intended.

Part One: Fifteen

Chapter Forty-Nine: Pompeii

James Potter returns to Lima ten days after he'd left. He looks wrecked, somehow, as though he's experienced a decade of suffering in his brief time away, and the first thing he does is hug Lily. He buries his face in her neck, and they exchange inaudible whispers between themselves.

Meanwhile, Harry busies himself with retrieving his father's luggage off the baggage carousel, and then pretends to be busy on his phone in order to avoid their (or anyone else's) notice. He's rather embarrassed by his parents' display, but with the look on his father's face, he can't bring himself to interrupt them. The man clearly needs the comfort, and Harry's not oblivious enough to deny him that.

Eventually, though, his parents separate, and James greets Harry with a hug Harry returns with a sigh and a roll of his eyes.

"Hi, Dad," Harry greets him, "How was the flight?"

"Long," James answers, "I'm glad to be home."

The three of them make their way to the car, chatting idly between themselves. Harry's quizzed about school, about baseball and his friends and the Euro Challenge. He asks about how Charles and Dorea had settled in at the family's seat in Ceredigion County, in Wales, and whether or not James had had an opportunity to visit with the Blacks and Lupins while he was there.

"I did," James confirms, "They're well. Remus and Sirius are busy, but Leo's band is fantastic. Have you seen any videos?"

"Some," Harry answers, "Leo doesn't like to share much, but Ursa's sent me a few."

Leo's band doesn't perform any gigs outside of school sponsored events, but they have a MySpace page and a Youtube Channel, and although they're relatively new, they're also rather talented. As a result, they've received a decent amount of traffic on both pages, and it's all rather exciting.

"Did you know he's gay?"

"Is he?" Lily asks, surprised. As she does so, Harry casts a sideways glance at his father, unsure of how to answer.

James notices his hesitation, and explains, "Sirius said he came out a couple of months ago."

Harry nods his acknowledgement. "He told me over Christmas."

James smiles softly, and for a moment, the weariness on his face fades. "I'm glad."

They reach Lily's car, and Harry settles himself in the driver's seat with a sigh. The prospect of an hour's drive ahead of him isn't an appealing one, and even the reminder that it'll bring him one step closer to his license is beginning to wear thin.

Predictably, Lily spends the commute between Dayton and Lima backseat driving, and his father sighs, exasperated. It's irritating, particularly since James is so calm in comparison, but he grins and bears it, and eagerly awaits the day he'll have a license - and a car - of his own.

Eventually, Harry pulls up in the driveway of their home, and they all sigh a breath of relief.

"Is Kate home?" James asks.

"She should be," Lily answers.

Indeed, Kate's home, sprawled out across the three-seater in the living room, an episode of 'Gossip Girl' on TV. She's demolished a bowl of chips and most of a 1.25 litre bottle of soda, and even as Kate greets their father with a hug, their mother is already frowning her disapproval.

"You'd better eat all of your dinner tonight, Katherine."

Kate rolls her eyes. "Yeah, whatever, Mum. How was it, Dad? Did you bring back anything interesting?"

"Maybe," James hedges, good-natured, "I guess you'll have to wait and see."

As the dogs crowd them for attention, and as the cat watches from his perch on the back of the couch, they sit and chat for a while, and as Lily prepares dinner, James produces a book of cryptic crosswords to keep them busy. He looks tired - and why wouldn't he be, when travel is exhausting, and the UK is five hours ahead of them? - but he doesn't let that deter him. Instead, James soundly schools Harry and Kate in producing answers out of nowhere, and it's not the worst way Harry could pass his time.

Nevertheless, Harry's still glad to retreat to his bedroom. It's not until he's cleaned the kitchen to his mother's impossible standard, and definitely not before he's gotten into an argument with Kate about the fact she'd not emptied the dishwasher that morning, but it's early yet, and a great deal of his friends are online to pester him via IM.

As he chats with them, and half-heartedly makes inroads into his weekend homework, he receives an email alert. It's a link from Jacob Ben-Israel - the most recent update on his blog - and Harry's about to delete it, entirely uninterested, when the headline catches his eye. It's titled 'Does WMHS Have a Pedophile on Staff?' and at length, it proceeds to tear strips into the reputation and character of one of WMHS' music teachers, Sandy Ryerson, his actions concerning the school's Glee Club members, and the rumour of a pending sexual assault complaint from a student, identity unknown.

Harry gapes for a while, uncomprehending, but there's already a dozen comments unearth JBI's post - shocked, accusing, denying, skeptical - and Harry's drawn a complete mental blank. It doesn't seem remotely real, and yet, a sexual assault complaint isn't something done lightly.

While Harry is busy trying to make sense of Jacob Ben-Israel's post, Santana opens up a group chat with Harry and all of their mutual friends. Her initial message consists of a screenshot of the blog post in question, followed by a succinct 'What the fuck?' and more question marks than Harry can throw a stick at.

In the minutes that follow, Harry takes comfort in the knowledge that his friends are equally as shocked and confused, but the matter is still on his mind as he goes to sleep, and his last thought is of whether or not he's honestly just spent the last year in the same school as someone who'd knowingly and actively preyed on his classmates, male and female alike.

It's an unpleasant thought. Harry's worried about bullies, he's worried about assessment, detention, expectations. He's never had to worry about predators like that, and it's sobering.

When he wakes, though, it's a revelation overshadowed by that day's morning news. There was an attack in London at seven o'clock (GMT) - an explosion in King's Cross Station - and first responders are still tallying the death toll.

His father's face is grim, attention on the TV, even as he presses buttons on his phone. He dials someone - Sirius or Remus, presumably - but the line is busy, and he hangs up with an exasperated sigh.

Harry texts Leo and Ursa, a simple 'Are you safe?.

In the few hours that follow, he receives no answer.

Author's Note: Ugh, procrastinating like a boss. Why was I excited to go back to uni again?