Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Les Mis. I don't make money from this fic.
November 7, 2000 Wiltshire, England - Malfoy Manor Library
It was well past dinner time, and still Draco, Hermione, and Theo were crowded into their own corner of the library, searching through thousands of years worth of compiled data and hoping to get lucky. They'd resigned themselves to focusing the majority of their efforts upon finding the original schematics for the tempus memoriam device. They simply couldn't progress any further until they knew how the prototype they were in possession of was supposed to work.
Theo looked up from the text he was reading, looking over to his colleagues. Hermione had sat herself in the middle of the library floor, surrounded by papers, books open to various pages, and a notebook sat in her lap, quill scribbling unceasingly. Theo smiled at the sight; her brows scrunched together as though she were putting together the pieces of a puzzle.
Then there was Draco. He sat at the little table, back hunched over his reading. Unlike Hermione, who spread her papers out to get a look at the big picture and maximize her time, Draco quickly and methodically worked his way through one bit of data at a time. He had a stack of unread books on his left, and two stacks on his right. The stack furthest away contained information he deemed not necessary, while the closer stack held relevant information. The closer stack was much shorter, and that seemed to frustrate Draco as he added another journal to the pile.
Theo looked over his own work space. His was a process somewhere between the two. Relevant information was kept close by, but Theo utilized levitation charm to suspend certain books in the air, spelled to stay open to the page he required. He also had a running list of source materials he may require later, their author, and a general synopsis of why he'd need them in the back of his notebook. The books on that list sat in a neat pile at his feet, out of the way, but at the ready should he need them.
It was in this moment of observation that Theo spotted something rather interesting. Among the books surrounding Hermione on the floor, a large green volume lay open beside her. In fact, that was the book she was frowning at so disconcertingly. It drew Theo's attention because he had read a similarly sized tome a few hours before, only the cover was red. He searched for the book in the pile at his feet and flipped the cover over to re-read the words embossed there.
Time and its Devices, Vol. 1. Theo remembered that when he'd picked this book up, the other two volumes were nowhere to be found. The three of them had gathered their source material from all over the library and study, so it was not out of the realm of possibility that they'd found individual parts of the same collection.
"Alright there, Hermione?" Theo called, curious by her ever-changing expressions as she read. She jumped a bit, startled by Theo's deep voice in the nearly silent room. Her eyes met his and she nodded.
"Yeah, just trying to figure out these numbers. It's like they're incomplete." Hermione said, sucking on the tip of her quill. Theo frowned.
"What book is that?" He asked, going with his gut.
"Time and its Devices, Vol. 2. Hermione replied, "Why?"
"I was looking for that earlier! I couldn't find it anywhere." Theo said, holding up the tome in his hand.
"I was looking for the rest, as well." Hermione said. "Where did you get that one?"
"Second level, left side, fourth book case from the right, second shelf from the bottom." Theo answered, referencing his guide. Hermione's frown deepened.
"That's where I got this one as well. Does yours make any sense?" Hermione asked. Theo shrugged.
"It's just spouting a bunch of philosophy. Talks about eternalism versus presentism and the problems each are interested in." Theo said. Then it clicked.
"Hermione, I read this book hours ago." Theo said, sitting up a little straighter. Hermione quirked her head to the side.
"What are you on to, Theo?" Hermione said, turning to look at him properly.
"We divide time into past, present, and future. Eternalism and presentism are both interested in those concepts. The author was clearly an advocate for eternalism. And then we have this example: I came across this book hours ago, but couldn't find any of the other books in the series. You came along later and discovered the same." Theo explained. At this point, Draco had put down his book and was listening in.
"A feeling in my gut tells me that if Draco were to go looking for the book, he'd find the first volume. It's basic eternalism: all layers of time exist simultaneously. There must have been a spell placed on the books by the author to only allow them to be read in a certain order: Past, present, and future." Hermione's eyes lit up.
"Shall we test this theory?" Draco asked, standing. Hermione nodded, and she and Theo watched as Draco made his way up the spiral staircase in the corner of the room to the second level. From his seat, Theo couldn't see Draco, but he could hear his footsteps above them.
"Left side, fourth case from the right?" Draco called.
"Yes. Second shelf from the bottom." Theo instructed. There was silence, but for the soft clunk of books being rearranged. Draco didn't call back down with what he'd found, he merely trudged back down the stairs, a blue book in his hand. He opened it, scanning it swiftly before smiling a bit. He flipped through a few more pages, his grin growing wider until he came to a page which had him laughing.
"You'll never believe this." Draco said, looking up at the other two. "They're schematics. From clocks to wormholes. And here is the schematic to our tempus device. It details everything, even goes on to explain how it works."
"No wonder they were charmed like that." Hermione said, realization in her voice. She stood, carefully extracting herself from her ring of notes and moving over to Draco. Theo had to see the schematics as well, just to get some verification that it was real. He moved to Draco's side and Draco held the book out in front of him so that all three could look over the schematics.
"This explains the incomplete numbers in the book I was reading! The books must have been written in that order for a reason. First, the theories of time, then, the actual calculations and science behind it, and then the actual devices." Hermione said. Theo looked up, meeting her eyes over the book.
"You know what this means, right?" Theo asked, his voice betraying his excitement.
"That we have a huge report to fill out tomorrow?" Hermione chuckled.
"I was more excited about the meeting with Robins and the look on his face when we tell him when and where we found this." Theo said, with a shrug. "But whatever floats your boat." Draco frowned.
"Why are you excited about that, Theo?" he asked. Hermione giggled and shook her head.
"Ordinarily, Theo and I aren't supposed to work overtime. If we don't meet our goals for the day by five, we usually voluntarily stay over without pay, because otherwise we'll be playing catch up the entire next day and will end up staying over anyway. Theo is excited because a find this big is something that would ordinarily warrant a bonus. And, knowing Theo, he'll just slip it into the report that we were working overtime tonight." Hermione smirked.
"I know how to play the system. If I can get an OT bonus on top of a regular bonus, I will." Theo smiled when Draco shook his head.
"It probably helps that you're Robins' favorite." Draco added, snapping the book shut and placing it on his desk.
"I don't think that man has favorites, Draco." Theo protested.
"Yeah, yeah." Draco teased, shoving his hands in his pockets and padding over to the library door. "I'm going to make some tea. Can I get you two a cuppa?" he asked. Hermione and Theo agreed and Draco vacated the room. Hermione stretched and plopped herself into Draco's comfy chair, looking at Theo with a smirk.
"You two act so much like brothers, it's hard to believe you were both only children." Hermione said. Theo shrugged, perching himself carefully on the edge of the desk in front of her.
"I suppose we sort of became brothers." Theo said, looking down at his lap.
"How do you mean?" Hermione asked, tilting her head to the side. " I know you two were friends in school, but you never seemed this close."
"Most of our housemates never really got close to Draco and I. We were like idols to them." Theo said quietly. "My father was one of the most devout and loyal death eaters there was. Draco's father, though, was probably the most well-known. Because of this, everyone wanted to be seen with us, but they didn't want to talk to us. Sure, they'd ramble on about social standings, gossip that was going around, and homework. But none of them really cared."
"I know what you mean." Hermione said. "Most of the Gryffindors thought that Ron and I were just Harry's friends for the fame. I had a lot of girls who tried to cozy up to me to get to Harry." she rolled her eyes. Theo nodded.
"Exactly. Well, as the years went along, Father began to get more - prideful, shall we say, in the summer months. I underwent training to become a death eater as early as second year. By fifth year, when the Dark Lord had returned, I felt like I'd been put through the ringer. If I disobeyed even the smallest order, I'd get the Cruciatus. I stayed at school nearly every holiday I could. Fifth year was hard. I did it mostly on my own. But sixth year- that was the first year Draco and I really connected."
"Prat spent way too much time in the Astronomy Tower sulking over his life." Draco's voice came from the doorway. He carried a tray with cups and the teapot. Theo smiled at his friend.
"I believe it was I who found you sulking in the tower, actually." Theo threw back.
"Initially, perhaps, but it became quite a favorite place of yours." Draco set the tea down before them and began busying himself pouring the tea. "Eventually, it became the first place I'd go if I needed someone to talk to. We'd both look for each other in the great hall and common room, see. If the other wasn't there, we'd head to the tower. Chances were, one or both of us needed to talk. Or cry. Or scream." Draco explained.
"But sometimes we'd just sit there. He'd look at me, and I'd look at him and we'd both know we didn't need to say anything. Those were hardest times." Theo's voice cracked and he looked down, his dark hair falling into his eyes. One night flashed before his eyes again, as though it was yesterday.
He stood at the ledge of the tower, looking out at the sunrise. He'd spent all night standing there. Draco had been working on that blasted cabinet. He wasn't sure what started the downward spiral, but then he always got emotional on the anniversary of his mother's death. He missed her so much, he just wanted to see her again. He wanted the pain to stop. He wanted the ache deep inside him every waking moment of every day to go away.
He closed his eyes, preparing himself. Just a weightless step. No more pain. No more-
"Theo?"
Draco. What was he doing here? Theo turned his head, his bloodshot eyes meeting Draco's pale, worn face. Draco's eyes were wide, clearly panicked.
"Theo, you promised." Draco said simply. "You promised you wouldn't leave me."
"I- can't. I can't do this anymore."
"Yes, you can, Theo. Remember what we said. No matter what happens, no matter how this war turns out, it's you and me. We're family, remember? Brothers. And you don't leave your family alone."
Theo stepped back from the ledge, stumbling towards Draco. Draco met him in the middle of the room, pulling him into a tight hug as Theo's numbness broke and a wave of realization broke over him. Draco caught him as he fell to his knees so he didn't hurt himself accidently. Draco sat there with him while he broke down. He was there when he came back to his senses.
"I'm sorry, Draco. I promise, if I have the choice, I will never leave." Theo swore.
He felt a hand on his shoulder, his name was being called. Theo lifted his blue eyes to meet grey. Draco's concerned look faded when he saw Theo was responsive.
"You're with family, mate." Draco whispered. Theo nodded once, then accepted the teacup Draco handed to him.
Theo looked to Draco, then across the desk to where Hermione sat, smiling at the men. Yes. He was with his family.