To Bedlam and Partway Back
NOTE: WARNINGS FOR EVENTUAL SLASH
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters
Chapter Three
Harry awoke slowly, to an unfamiliar voice speaking over his head.
"-magical guardianship. It became official the moment that Bond was approved. If you were to go to the Ministry of Magic right now and look at the journals they keep there for recording these sorts of things, their bond would be listed down there already."
"But magical guardianship? Just what does that mean?" That voice he recognised. Female, innately curious, and just a touch on the nasal side. Harry mumbled something unintelligible and tried to hide his head under his pillow, only to realise that his pillow wasn't as soft as he'd thought it was, and it wasn't as light, either. In fact, it was moving, vibrating as someone laughed sleepily, breathing. Not even bothering to hide a yawn, Harry slowly stirred awake, arching his back and cracking all his joints.
"Merlin, Potter, that sounds awful!" the first voice exclaimed, and Harry looked up sleepily, only to see a broad face smiling down at him.
"Cedric," he whispered. The older boy's smile widened.
"Hey," he greeted back, running a hand through unruly locks. Harry relaxed into the caress, letting his eyes slip close.
"Harry," Hermione began, causing Harry to open his eyes again and look in her direction. His friend was seated at their feet in the thick yellow rug, her hair even more mussed than usual after sleep. She looked nervous, and was biting her lip. "You should get up now," she suggested softly. "Appleby went to get Professor Sprout down here to talk about the bond and what it'll mean for you-"
"'Course, you're already an Honourary 'Puff," the boy she'd been talking to threw in, grinning widely. When Harry turned to look at him with confused eyes, he laughed.
"Herbert Fleet," he introduced himself. "Hufflepuff Keeper. I don't owe your Chasers any thanks for yesterday; I don't even want to think about how many they shot through my hoops. They do make a right fit formation though…" he trailed off, musing to himself.
Cedric looked at his Keeper with an exasperated, if entirely unsurprised look. Pulling out his wand, he cast breath freshening charms on both Harry and himself, before sitting upright and bringing Harry with him. "Herbie, this isn't the time or place for that," he scolded.
"There isn't never not a time for fit Quidditch players," Herbert- Herbie- informed him primly. Harry let out a giggle. Cedric rolled his eyes at him, and then returned his attention to the younger boy.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
Harry laughed, the sound ringing clear and bright like dew on the new morn. "Never better," he murmured, his palms pressed against Cedric's broad chest, "never better."
Sprout came down to the common room at the crack of dawn and called the whole of Hufflepuff into a house meeting. She opened the landscape painting to an excited lot of children, tittering over their newest acquisitions. Harry was, as expected, surrounded by the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, debating the Quidditch National League and strategy, while Hermione, her hair plaited back into some semblance of order, was tutoring a couple of First-Years on levitation charms. Harry was leaning against Cedric, and the two Seekers seemed entirely at ease with one another.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, Mr. Diggory," she called. Nearly eighty heads turned as one to face her unblinkingly in Hufflepuff solidarity. She had to hide a smile at that. "If you would excuse our discussion for a moment?"
"Why?" Herbie asked bluntly. The Sixth-Year rogue Keeper had become somewhat of their most vocal advocate. "We're all Hufflepuffs here, one for all, all for one." Several of the Muggleborns giggled at the reference. "Same goes for adoption, innit?"
He looked over the two younger years critically, and then sank back onto the couch, sighing heavily. His blue eyes looked at his Head-of-House sharply.
"Allow me to be candid, Professor."
The tiny woman hesitated, and then nodded.
"People won't be pleased, Professor. To let these two go back now-" he gestured vaguely at the Gryffindors "-is to send them into a literal lions' den, especially with the new Bond."
Sprout's eyes lit up at the mention of the Bond. "Yes, Mr. Diggory, I was hoping I could talk to you about that personally." The blond prefect merely nodded, not moving. He discreetly stroked the inside of Harry's wrist to soothe the fidgeting boy in his lap. "Why, Cedric?" she asked.
The boy's grey eyes flashed dangerously. "Why not?" he returned, startling his Head-of-House with his passion. "Nobody else saw fit to do anything- you know what Dumbledore did the moment we pledged? He tore us apart, Professor! And Pomfrey just stood there and let it happen!" he spat.
Sprout slumped where she stood, reeling in shock. She would have thought the healer would have known better; she would have thought the headmaster would have known better. To separate the newly pledged was tantamount to crime in the wizarding world. Magical oaths and bonds, once invoked, caused fluctuations in their participants' magical levels, and if not allotted the time and proximity to settle, could cause them to fall into a vegetative state that would be immensely hard to cure, even more so than a Mandrake restorative draught.
Glancing about, she picked up the mutinous whispers in their barrel-shaped vault and realised that that had very nearly happened to her two students, one of them the most famous icon the wizarding world ever had, and the other one of the best students she'd ever had come her way. The petit professor nodded decisively.
"Then I suppose we have Miss Granger to thank, for bringing the two of you together?" she asked.
The girl in question blushed, where Cedric smiled warmly, the expression softening the previous anger on his face.
"Dumbledore won't let this lie," Ernie Macmillian warned. Cedric's face immediately darkened, and Harry's gaze dropped to the floor. He took a deep breath, then spoke.
"I won't trouble you- any of you. If you'd just let 'Mione stay-"
At once there was a tremendous uproar from all the badgers present. Harry looked entirely taken aback by the showing. Hermione was right there in his face, yelling at him for being a twat and smacking him on the side of the head. It was almost embarrassing that she was barely an inch shorter.
Sprout held up her hands for calm. Grudgingly, the Hufflepuffs settled back into position, lolling about each other supportively. Cedric glared at Ernie, and the younger boy blanched.
"I didn't mean it like that, Potter," he hurriedly corrected. Harry ignored Cedric's threatening rumble of, "You better not have," although going by Ernie's pallor, he obviously hadn't. "I just meant that we've got to keep our eyes open, that's all. Badgers stick together." He summoned up a tremulous smile. "Right?"
Herbie was laughing, and rudely ruffled up Harry's hair. "I think that pretty much says it all," he agreed. He eyed Hermione's plait speculatively, and then idly tugged at the end. The girl turned bright pink.
"Hufflepuffs have always been more dedicated to family than most," he mused. "Welcome to ours."
They immediately had their belongings transported to the dorms, where Hannah and Susan began to settle Hermione into a new four-poster at the end of their dorm. Harry, instead of rooming with his yearmates, would be sleeping with the Fifth-Years. He had a bed in their room beside Cedric's, and the two beds farthest from the door were sectioned off by a screen.
"The extra's more for decency's sake, really," he got Cedric to admit. When the younger boy glanced at him sideways, his fair skin reddened and he bravely soldiered on. "You're more than welcome to share mine, although if you don't want to-"
"Your bed is fine," Harry interrupted quietly, running a calloused hand down plump yellow-black covers. It might be his imagination, but all the quilts, the pillows, even the mattresses themselves, seemed better-stuffed than anything else he'd seen in the castle. They also appeared to radiate a warmth that was terrific for drowsily lulling one to bed.
Cedric's answering smile was beatific.
There was still about an hour to breakfast, and Harry found himself sitting on a couch with Cedric, Herbie beside them and Sprout and Hermione seated opposite. Crookshanks had managed to slink his way into the Hufflepuff Common Room and was currently curled up between Harry and Cedric. One look at the squashed feline's contented face told him everything he needed to know about Cedric's trustworthiness.
"So, tell me how it feels like to be Bonded, Harry," Hermione began, her eyes shining in her new quest for information.
He looked at her blankly. "I don't know a thing about it."
Sprout looked shocked. "Y-y-you just entered-"
"A Pledgeship Bond," Herbie supplied easily.
"-without even knowing what it was?" She boggled at him.
He glanced up at the tightness of Cedric's jaw, and then shrugged. "Cedric offered me something I couldn't refuse." Swallowing heavily, he glanced up again, only to meet light grey eyes, clearer than the garish mercury of Malfoy's orbs. "I trust him."
Sprout sighed, although she couldn't help the rather rueful smile on her lips. "Yes, Cedric is rather like that," she agreed, which had the prefect blushing again. Herbie was outright grinning. "But nonetheless, Mr. Potter, you should know just what entails the Pledgeship Bond. I know you do not intend to break your vows, but you must be wary in case you unwittingly do so. The consequences of such are far from pleasant- exploding nerves and burst entrails, I do believe."
Hermione turned decidedly green at that. "Please," she began, "what's the bond all about?"
The tiny witch took in a deep breath and sighed again. "Let's see…where to begin?"
"How about with its origins? It's a good a place as any," Cedric suggested.
"Oh, alright," Sprout blustered, and tapped her chin with a finger. "Well." She cleared her throat and began again. "Well, the Pledgeship Bond was-"
"-formed in the early sixth century, when King Arthur ruled over all of England. His Sorcerer Merlin suggested the use of these bonds as a way to combat the treachery Arthur's illegitimate son Mordred was sowing within his knights, yes, Professor Sprout, I already know all that, could you please tell us what the Bond means in this present context!"
The older Hufflepuffs looked startled by Hermione's outburst, but Harry burst out laughing. Sprout was smiling. "Why am I not surprised you already know all that," she said rather fondly, and Hermione blushed. "Five point to Gr-" she paused blue eyes wide. "Why, five points to Hufflepuff!" she chuckled warmly. Hermione's mahogany eyes widened, and her cheeks glowed a steady pink.
"Well, the Pledgeship Bond is rarely used nowadays, because emotions are so much more fickle these days. There are rarely any causes for people to bandy about, like how Arthur's knights wanted to defeat Mordred's army. Everyone has their own agenda, which means its very dangerous for such a Bond to be cast without fully understanding the circumstances."
Here Sprout's eyes lingered on Harry, and the boy blushed.
"Sorry?" he offered.
Sprout smiled. "I am impressed, not displeased, Mr. Potter, since a Pledgeship Bond is notoriously hard to cast, and you might very well be the first person who's successfully cast it that isn't of age. Another ten points to Hufflepuff," she chortled happily.
Herbie quirked a smile at her. "You're having too much fun with this, Professor."
"Now, now, Herbie," she said mock-reprovingly, "these are all legitimate reasons for awarding points." She let out a rather girlish giggle, startling both ex-Gryffindors, who'd never seen this side of their Herbology Professor before. "Now, where was I? Ah, yes. Notoriously hard to cast. It was usually cast among two people who'd known each other a long time- actually, come to think of it, I'm pretty sure your father cast it with…" she trailed off and frowned in thought.
"Professor Sprout?" Cedric asked, reaching out to lightly touch her shoulder.
She turned back to them with a worried cast on her jolly face. "I'm pretty sure your father took the oath with Sirius Black."
Herbie's eyebrows hit his hairline. "The psychotic murderer? Who was pretty much responsible for his parents' deaths?"
Harry's eyes darted sharply between them. "What do you mean?" he asked urgently. "What does this mean?"
"I don't know the details," Hermione said slowly, "but isn't the forfeit for breaking your vows a really horrible death? Shouldn't Sirius Black have died, then, had he betrayed them?"
"How did he betray them." Harry wasn't asking a question.
Sprout sighed. "I must apologise, Mr. Potter, I wasn't thinking when I brought this up. I hadn't thought what it would mean for you…but your father and Sirius Black were best friends here at Hogwarts. They were part of a group called the Marauders. Your father and Black entered the Auror Training Programme together after they graduated. Somewhere in their last year, before the commencement ceremony, I'm almost sure they took the Pledgeship Bond together, whereas Professor Lupin took the Bond with your mother."
She frowned at the shocked look on his face. "Didn't he tell you?" she asked suspiciously. "That all four of them were friends at their time together in Hogwarts, including one Peter Pettigrew?"
"N-no," Harry said, shaking his head furiously. "And Pettigrew? The one Black killed?"
Sprout nodded with a sigh, "Yes, the most hopeless of the bunch. He depended on the other three for everything." Her keen eyes sought his again. "I was sure he would have told you. Odd, that. I will speak to him about it," she said decisively. "But yes, where was I? Ah, they took the bond before they graduated. When You-Know-Who came for them they fled and hid under the Fidelius Charm cast by the Headmaster."
At his blank look she explained, "A Fidelius Charm is a spell that allows a house and whoever's inside to go into hiding with the help of a Secret Keeper. As long as the Secret Keeper keeps their mouth shut, nobody could ever find the house. Sirius Black was your parents' Secret Keeper, and he led Voldemort straight to them."
Hermione frowned. "Is there any way that can't be construed as a betrayal?" she asked sharply. "Because that sounds awfully like a betrayal to me. So why, by the rules of the Bond, is he still alive?"
"Professor, you might want to back up a bit and go into the rules of the Bond," Cedric suggested.
"Oh, yes, of course." Her head dropped for a moment while she gathered her thoughts. "Yes, the rules of the Pledgeship Bond. Since one of you is underage, namely you, Mr. Potter, Cedric here will have full guardianship over you until you come of age. He's still only sixteen, but as his father's heir, he's allowed to claim his inheritance and early emancipation at that age, a year early. I expect you've already had the right documents sent?" she asked sharply, eying her favourite student.
Cedric didn't disappoint. "I couldn't have done it myself, but Herbie consolidated the right documents and had them sent to Gringotts and the Ministry of Magic yesterday. I just had to sign and initial them, and I could manage that much, at least."
Sprout nodded approvingly. "He'll be your proxy in all legal matters, above whatever your previous magical guardian or relatives might say," she continued, directing this part of her speech to Harry.
"Also, you must stay true to each other, of course. That means even should you rat each other out, you must only have the other's good in mind. Say Mr. Potter cheated on a test, and Cedric noticed, and Cedric came and told me; Cedric isn't going to fall on the floor leaking entrails everywhere."
"Thank goodness," Cedric declared stuffily, while the others laughed.
Sprout smiled. "Sometimes events will put you into really difficult situations," she continued kindly, "but just keep in mind that whatever choice you make for the other pledged must be with his best interest in mind."
Herbie was still frowning away beside them. "Then there's no way Sirius Black could have lived past that night," he said. "There's no way he could have even managed to tell You-Know-Who their location before the magic struck him dead. And how is he even still alive, anyway?" he asked suspiciously. "For that matter, Professor, since you mentioned that Professor Lupin and Lily Potter took a Pledgeship Bond together, why isn't he dead too? You die when the other pledged dies- unless." His eyes blanked with the realisation. "Unless you live for vengeance."
"Vengeance?" Hermione asked in a small voice. Herbie looked straight at her and nodded, seriously.
"Yes, vengeance. When your pledged is killed, you have one of two options: to die with them, or to drag out your life- but it'll be worse than hell, mind you!- in the hopes of wreaking vengeance on the one who killed your pledged."
"I don't understand what that has to do with either Black or Lupin," Hermione confessed. "If Black had betrayed them, how could he still be living for vengeance? And who is Lupin waiting to wreak vengeance on? Black?"
Sprout sighed heavily. "I'm afraid that is a question for another time, my dears. It's almost time for breakfast, and the two of you must get dressed." She smiled at the ex-Gryffindors. "I am looking most forward to seeing you two in your new robes. I will speak to Professor Lupin later, and see what I can find out from him."
"Thank you, Professor," Cedric said sincerely. Harry offered her a shy smile from his place beside him.
The woman softened. "Certainly, my dears," she murmured, and left the common room.