I am beginning to feel that life in prison or the Kiss may be too harsh for Petunia and maybe even Dudley. I keep going back and forth between deciding that apathy and inaction are just as bad as the acts themselves that Vernon did and thinking that they are lesser to an extent. We'll just have to see how the trial writes itself for that one (sorry).
And as for the random assassination…hmm…I'm still totally loving this idea. Can't tell you for sure if I will use it though. I also like the idea of an insane asylum housing a totally sane Dumbledore who is treated like a delusional three year old…snort.
We'll have to see. I have to leave some things a surprise!
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Chapter 56The chaos was unbelievable. Witches and wizards alternately cried in sorrow for the useless loss of life and screamed in terror as they realized what this would mean for their lives now that their hero was dead and could no longer be entrusted with the impossible job of killing You Know Who. The din was deafening as the panic spread further and further throughout the alley.
Tallis, Bill, Draco and Severus sat in absolute silence.
Witches collapsed in the streets, their packages falling aside with no care for them. Wizards openly sobbed, clutching each other in terror. Children went into hysterics at the terrifying sight of their parents' unmasked grief and terror.
Tears streamed down Bill's cheeks as he took in the turmoil around them. "All this. Harry dies and this is the reaction. Look at them. They're fucking terrified."
Tallis reached up and wiped the tears away gently, trying to ignore the pain in his own heart. His family had just killed him.
Bill's depression over their single-mindedness turned to fury. "Serves the fuckers right," Bill growled. How dare they react like this? A boy had just died because they were too blind to protect him and they shoved the blame completely aside onto other shoulders. None of them recognized the fact that they could have saved Harry at any time. They chose not to. "They didn't deserve their hero."
Draco looked around in wonder. "Sweet Merlin. This is bloody insane."
"The poor, sweet boy. How could they murder him?" a woman near them wailed.
"Taken from us so young!" another joined in, clutching each other desperately.
Tallis looked at her dispassionately. He had never met any of them before. They were complete strangers and yet they were mourning his death as if they were the closest of friends.
"I was there! I was there!" a man shouted hysterically. "I saw the coroner's report right before they destroyed the body!"
A shocked murmur went through the crown before they quieted almost as one to hear what the witness had to say. The crowd pushed further into the restaurant as word spread through the street that someone within the café had information about Harry Potter.
"They destroyed his body?" an appalled voice shouted out immediately.
"Yes, almost immediately from what I could gather. Evidently they knew that Harry wished to be cremated from some sort of muggle legal documents and they did so straight away."
"How did they know about it so quickly?" a woman asked.
"I don't know. Seems no one could tell that but it's too late to do anything now. His body was burned and there is nothing left."
"Did you get a copy of the report?" a man yelled out eagerly.
The man waved a fistful of papers high in the air. "Right here! He was declared dead at 11.17 a.m. Beaten near to death it looks like from the descriptions."
"How did he actually die?" a woman called out eagerly, not bothering to hide her interest in the gory details.
"I'm finding it," the man said impatiently as he flipped through the pages.
Tallis turned to his Father, his eyes desperate. "Can we leave, sir?"
Severus felt like an idiot for not pulling his son out of there sooner. His son had called him 'sir'—never a good sign. He dug through his bags frantically for the return portkey, needing that in order to safely transport all four of them and their bags. The crest ring portkeys couldn't handle such a large transportation.
The man continued. "Cuts and bruises over most of his body…numerous broken bones…here…oh Merlin. Someone raped him."
The crown gasped as one.
Tallis turned deathly white. "Sir," he begged, the tears clear in his voice.
Severus finally pulled out the long stirring rod he had made a portkey this morning and held it out. The four wizards touched it just as the man began to elaborate on the findings.
They landed once more in the foyer; Tallis managing to stay on his feet with balance and grace that was completely unnatural for him. He put his hand to his temple for a moment before dropping it limply to his side again as he regained a semblance of control. He looked as if he would break into pieces at any moment. "I believe I will go lay down," he said slowly before turning and walking unsteadily toward his room, swaying dangerously.
The three men watched his retreat in silence.
"I'm an idiot. Why didn't I get the portkey out immediately?" Severus berated himself.
"How dare that man reveal such details about Harry's death?" Draco said angrily, punching the marble banister in a fit of anger. "Whose business is it? Fucking asshole." For once, the Slytherin Prince didn't notice the pain or the reddened knuckles, ignoring his own body and needs completely in favor of his friend's pain.
"Harry's whole life was a spectacle lived before the cameras. It is no wonder that his death was the same," Bill said wearily, still staring down the hallway where Tallis had disappeared.
Severus pulled himself back together, knowing that he needed to wait until later to fall apart. They had a lot to get accomplished and very little time to do it in. "I am going to go call Remus and Poppy. We need to ensure that the body truly was destroyed through muggle cremation and we need to find out where the Dursleys are in custody and when the trial will be."
Remus and Poppy had evidently been waiting together in the Infirmary, expecting the call to come soon. They stepped through to the Manor immediately. "Where to now?" Remus asked.
"I assume by the fact that the body is gone that you were able to get the will to the correct people to destroy the body?" Severus asked.
"Yes. I lucked out and heard about his death within minutes of it happening. I went immediately to the coroner's offices and handed over the documents, explaining that I was a family friend of the deceased and his birth parents and that I knew the deceased's wishes. I corrected their memories to simply remember a nondescript man entering with the wills and nothing more."
"Very good. Bill and Draco should stay here to be with Tallis. He wants to be alone for a few moments right now but I am assuming that will pass soon and he will want Bill. The three of us are going to double check all of the facts to make sure that everything happened according to plan."
"I didn't really think they would do it," Poppy said softly, still in shock. "I didn't think they would kill him. Or if they did, I didn't think it would happen so fast. Oh gods, how Tallis' heart must be breaking."
"We all knew it would come," Severus said softly, not managing to mask his own pain. "I didn't expect it either for a few more days. And even with the preparation, I find myself ill equipped to deal with the idea that the muggle knowingly killed my son. We need to focus though. We don't have much time."
The three left immediately, leaving Bill and Draco to try to comfort Tallis.
Bill stared down the hall, trying to prepare himself for what he knew he would face. When he had made his decision all those years ago to be with Tallis he had thought he had known what would come with the territory. He found himself not even remotely prepared. Every once in a while something like this would happen and it would remind him of just how terribly his lover had been abused.
He had entered the relationship fully aware of the fact that Tallis had been sexually abused and quite certain that he knew everything that would come with the territory. The knowledge that Tallis had been raped and likely bore soul deep scars hadn't scared him off at all. Tallis was worth it. Even at 14, he had been more than worth it. He had been young, yes, but Bill had known even then that the relationship would never be a one off or a throw away relationship. He had known it was for life.
Now that had scared him—knowing that the man he wanted to marry might be older than him in spirit but only fourteen actual years old.
He had held back for as long as he could but finally gave in to his love when he saw it dimly reflected back to him in Tallis' perpetually sad eyes. He knew he had made the right decision when he finally saw a glimmer of real happiness shine back at him, magnifying the love and sending it back freely, even if he was as yet unable to say the words.
Hearing Tallis profess his love for him a few weeks previously had been a truly soul changing experience for Bill. Having always grown up surrounded by love, virtually drowning in it at times, he had never before understood how incredibly important those words were until someone who had never known love before found the courage to utter those words to him. I love you. Merlin, they shook him to his very core.
He knew that his lover was aching right now. He could practically feel it in the air. He found himself at a loss for how to fix it but shook himself mentally. If he waited until he felt truly ready to deal with everything then he would never go in the room. He needed to trust his instincts on how to comfort his boyfriend. They had never failed before.
He turned to Draco and nodded his head, indicating that he was as ready as he would ever be. They went into his room quietly, stilling they saw Tallis standing before the large windows that looked over the dead, snow covered garden.
"He really did it," Tallis said blankly without turning around. "He really hated me enough to kill me."
Bill stepped forward slowly, coming to stand next to Tallis but not touching him yet. "We knew this day might come."
Tallis let out a rough laugh. "Doesn't make it any easier, having your relatives kill you."
"No, it doesn't," Bill acknowledged. "You'll never have to go back to them again though. You're free."
Tallis stared out immovably into the distance. "Am I?" he said softly. "Will I ever be free? Even if we remove Dumbledore from power, even if I kill Voldemort, even if no one ever discovers who I am and all that we have hoped and worked for comes to pass, will I ever really be free?"
"Perhaps not as free as many people are," Draco said, stepping up to Tallis' other side. "You'll be free from the fear that someone will hurt you or—"
"Perhaps," Tallis said, cutting him off.
They stood in silence for a long time, each one trying to deal with the events of the afternoon.
"He hated me so much," Tallis whispered, his voice breaking with the repressed ache. "I tried so hard, Bill. He still hated me, didn't he?"
Bill wrapped an arm around his lover's shaking shoulders, knowing he was ready for it now. "There was nothing you could have done, love."
"Maybe if I had tried harder, maybe if I had been better…"
"There was nothing you could do. Vernon is a very sick and twisted man. Nothing you could do could have changed the way he treated you or what he did."
"I wasn't a very good boy. I should have been better. Maybe he would have loved me if only—"
"Hush, love. You did nothing wrong. Your family—your real family—loves you very, very much. They didn't deserve you."
Tallis turned in to Bill's arms, burying his face in his chest. "I'm scared."
"Me too," Bill acknowledged.
Now that this course of events had been started it was impossible to stop them. There was no way to control the train wreck anymore. The trial and the press and the Ministry were all completely out of their control and now, after so many months of careful planning and strategizing, they needed to give away the reigns to someone else and trust that it would all work.
Tallis suddenly reached up, clasping his hands behind Bill's neck and pulling him down to his level. He kissed Bill hungrily, his need and desperation clear.
Bill hesitated only for a moment before allowing his hands to roam lower, gripping the tight arse and lifting Tallis easily. A moan slipped out as Tallis wrapped his legs around his waist and Bill turned quickly to make his way to their bed.
Draco quickly made his way out unnoticed by his friends.
"Love me," Tallis whispered in Bill's ear. "Love me. Make me forget."
Bill didn't bother with an answer, he simply kissed him more deeply, swallowing any more words that his lover may have said. He slowly started to unbutton Tallis' shirt, caressing the beautiful skin with each light touch, setting him on fire.
Tallis moved restlessly under the ministrations, the hands seeming to touch him everywhere at once. Talented fingers brushed against his nipples, tearing a groan from him. The fingers were quickly replaced as Bill's soft lips and tongue gently took over and Bill reached down to divest him of his trousers.
Bill fumbled with the button, desperate to feel his skin. He managed to undo it, finally able to slowly unzip the trousers that were straining over his lover's erection.
Tallis gripped his hair with surprising strength, pulling his mouth back up to claim another brutal kiss. "Please," he begged softly, bucking up against Bill.
Bill no longer had the patience to take off his own clothes and rid himself of them with a quick spell. "I love you Tallis."
Tallis stared deeply into his eyes, settling down for a moment although his body was still taught with desire. "I love you Bill," he said with equal fervor.
A quick spell and the lubricant was in Bill's hands. He looked down at Tallis once more, making certain that this was what he wanted. At Tallis' desperate nod he reached down, gently stroking the tight entrance.
SDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSD
An exhausted Severus, Poppy and Remus appeared in the library again, greeted by Draco with drinks and a warm fire. "How did it go?" he asked nervously.
"Well. I don't suppose that my son and Bill have come down yet?" Severus asked, only wanting to go through the details once.
"Not yet. Tallis was really shaken up Sev. He kept talking about how he wasn't good enough, hadn't worked hard enough to make his Uncle like him."
Severus cursed violently and began to stand up to go to his son.
Draco's hand on his arm stopped him. "You probably don't want to go in there right now."
Severus sighed and sat back down, not needing any more of an explanation. "Is it too much to hope that you and Bill were able to explain to him that he had no control over it?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "Of course we did Sev, we're not idiots. I don't know whether he believed it or not but we tried." He turned to Remus and Poppy. "How bad is it out there?"
"It is insane. I thought that people would get over their initial panic and calm down again. I fear they have only gotten worse. The Dursleys are in custody but their location has not been revealed to anyone for fear of reprisals without a proper trial," Poppy explained.
Remus looked like he had aged ten years since he left. "They published the coroner's report in a late edition of the Prophet," he said hoarsely, his hands still shaking.
He had thought he knew what his godson faced at the muggles but he had not been remotely prepared for what he found in the report. Severus and Poppy were disgusted and disturbed but both of them were already quite familiar with Tallis' medical file and frankly, the report had not surprised them at all.
Remus though, had been blindsided by the report, and the shock had only deepened when he realized that his companions were not shocked.
He had been living in a fantasy world as had most of the people who knew Harry. No one wanted to acknowledge how bad it really was. He felt certain that Ron and Hermione would be equally blindsided even though they knew quite a few details that he himself hadn't known. He had never in his entire life encountered such brutality.
The worst part about it was the sickening appetite the public had for every single horrific detail. He felt his stomach rise again and he battled it back down.
"Are you serious?" Draco asked, his eyebrows shooting up. "That has to be illegal, isn't it?"
"One would think," Severus said waspishly. "Evidently not though, considering that he is of age and has no living family to prevent it."
"The trial will still be closed though, won't it?" Draco asked, terrified for the answer.
"That can't change, regardless of the age of the victim in question. All child abuse trials are strictly closed. We have nothing to fear there."
Draco breathed out a quick sigh of relief. "When is the trial set to begin?"
"Immediately after Christmas," Severus answered. "The first day of the trial is on Monday the 27th."
"May Merlin help us all," Draco said softly.
SDSDSDSDSDSDSDSDSD
"I'm scared I'll be like him," Tallis whispered into the warm chest he was laying on.
Bill looked up a bit, surprised and uncertain how to respond in case he had misinterpreted what Tallis was saying. Neither had spoken a word since their proclamations of love and this statement was rather random. Bill didn't want to misinterpret it and hurt his boyfriend.
Tallis elaborated on his own. "I'm scared I'll hurt you…and I'll still like it."
Bill reached a large hand over to lightly stroke Tallis' hair, thinking his response through for a moment. "You'll never be him," he announced with certainty.
Tallis shifted a bit, questioning him silently.
"I trust you implicitly. I know that you will never purposefully harm me," Bill said softly, not bothering to give him the usual platitudes, claiming that he couldn't possibly do such a thing. He knew that such empty words wouldn't comfort Tallis right now. Now, he needed the truth.
"You trust me?" Tallis asked softly.
"With every fiber of my being."
Tallis lay in silence for a moment, thinking back to his conversation with his Father as well as what his lover had just said. "What if I do though? What if I hurt you?"
"Then we'll stop for a while and get some more lube," Bill said reasonably.
"That's it?" Tallis asked, almost incredulous.
"That's it. Sometimes we rush things too much. When we do you tell me and we stop and fix things. We'll do the same when…if you top," he corrected himself, not wanting to put pressure on his younger lover.
Tallis nodded thoughtfully. "I think…I think maybe I would like to," he finally declared, clearly wanting to exorcise some of his demons. With his Uncle safely locked away and the trial inevitable he finally felt a bit more safe to explore that part of his sexuality. He was ready to let go of a little bit more.
Bill moaned softly just thinking about it. After all, he hadn't been able to be on the receiving end for nearly three years now. His hands moved lower, brushing down Tallis' toned back. "Whenever you're ready," he murmured.
Tallis squirmed a bit, getting aroused again. "Not just yet…but soon," he whispered back, leaning in for another kiss.