James sat hunched over in his chair. It was night and the house was empty except for him and Albus. He had left a message for his dad before leaving the Ministry, but he was pretty sure the fact he left without his father was going to blow up in his face later.
Speaking of…
The burning and the itching were gone. His face and eye were fully healed. It should have been a happy occasion; it was certainly one he had thought of a lot in the last few months. But the bandages were lying in a heap on the floor beside his chair, forgotten. Pointless.
He was feeling moody, and guilty, and all together pissed off. Maybe it was the fact that his search had led to nothing; maybe it was the clusterfuck at the Ministry today; maybe it was the fact that he had a nearly empty bottle of Firewhisky loosely clutched in one hand.
Probably a bit of all three.
He had thought drinking would make him feel better, wash away his black mood with sweet empty oblivion. But all it seemed to be doing was bring everything to the surface. And all James seemed to have under the surface recently was bitterness, anger and frustration. Oh, and now he had shame to add to the pot. Wonderful. It all bubbled up inside him, until everything was lost in a hazy cloud of self-pity.
He let his head loll from side to side, his cloudy eyes narrowed as he fingered a smaller, more delicate, and far more expensive bottle in his other hand. He spun it round in his fingers, letting the lamp light gleam off it and watching the bizarre patterns the glass reflected dance around his hand.
It had all been a waste of time. He had allowed himself to get his hopes up; to think that maybe there was something he could do to help his little brother. But it was all for nothing. Nathan and the rest of those useless bastards had given him nothing, and now there was nothing he could do.
He had missed his chance to help; when Albus had asked him what to do the night the Purifiers marched up the Hogwarts grounds towards the entrance hall.
The heaving mass of students, panicking and pressed against each in a confused stumbling mass. The barked orders of the Headmaster floating through the halls, the terror, the disbelief. He had dismissed Albus. He didn't have time to worry about his frightened little brother, he was so eager to play the hero. Maybe if he had taken the time to make sure he would get himself to safety… Maybe if he had been a bit kinder about sending him off… Maybe if he had trusted him a little more…
He had missed his chance to help when Albus had asked if he could help out when James was planning to raid the Slytherin common rooms at midnight. A dungbomb centred raid in revenge for sending David to the Hospital Wing. The excitement, the righteous anger. Planning with his friends, scanning the Marauders Map. He had absently disregarded Albus's nervous offer for help. It had been so out of character for his shy little brother to want to get up to mischief, to want to take part in his brother's adventures, to want to show he wasn't the coward everyone thought.
He had missed his chance when Albus had failed the Quidditch try-outs in second year, despite James knowing he was a great flyer. He encouraged him to not give up, and try again next year, but didn't find it weird when his little brother never did. He had missed his chance at Uncle Charlie's birthday, when Albus had not wanted to ride the Peruvian Slackjaw, and James had found it hilarious rather than a sign of fear and low self-confidence. He had missed his chance at his first Christmas back after his first year at Hogwarts; his Quidditch cup victory party in fourth year; at Albus's fourteenth birthday. Countless failure and lost opportunities and roads not taken to stop Albus from wanting to prove himself so desperately that night. To be the big brother he should have been and look after his younger sibling.
Dozens of memories, half remembered and twisted with reflection and boozy haze swam through his mind, and James scowled harder at the small bottle in his left hand. Now he actually had the mind to do something, and it was too late. Albus was laying comatose upstairs and all his efforts had given him nothing.
If only Nathan and his lot had given him something to go on, some slim avenue for him to try, so that he at least had a glimmer of hope. But no. They had all told him the same thing. They had seen nothing, they couldn't tell him anything.
And James didn't buy it. Not one bit.
They had all told him they couldn't help, with excuses and explanations and half-hearted offers of help that at first glance James had taken as genuine. But sitting in the half light of the Potter living room James found he could see things a lot clearer now. They had all spoken a little too quickly; all thought about it a tad too little. Their excuses and half-baked reasons seemed painfully transparent to him now. They knew what had happened. They had seen Albus that night and for whatever reasons now they were lying to him.
He took another swig. It all seemed so clear to him now. How had he not seen it before? They were playing him for a fool like so many others. James Potter, the loudmouth, hot heated idiot son of Harry bloody Potter. Potter, Potter, Potter…
He blinked as his head swayed. Merlin, he was finding it hard to concentrate.
A small voice in the far reaches of his mind, drowning in the boiling sea of self-righteousness and whiskey, offered another answer. What if he was wrong? What if he was just angry, and frustrated and seeing things that weren't there, doubting his friends in a haze of self-pity and booze?
James took another mouthful of the bottle in his right hand. Firewhisky. He was so far into the bottle it hardly burned his gut as he swallowed. The warmth spread through his numb body to his fingertips.
He twirled the other bottle over again, catching the light.
Veritaserum.
He had stolen it from his father's lockbox. Another thing he would probably pay for later… Such a tiny little thing, but so valuable, so useful in the right hands. Only a couple of drops in Nathan's drink, or any of the others, and he would know the truth. He would know one way or another… Was it so bad to want to know? To make sure?
Ugh, he was tired. His head was resting against the back of his chair. Maybe he should just close his eyes for a second…
The world exploded in a deafening crash.
The fuck?
He stumbled up out of his chair and fell over. Ugh, head spinning. He looked around, nothing. No damage, no fire. What was that? An explosion? He looked up at the ceiling. Upstairs? Noises, loud noises. Something upstairs. Crashing. Voices. Falling rocks.
What the hell was going on?
He staggered to his feet, leaving the Firewhisky spilling over the carpet. The room was spinning. Noise. Confusion. He fumbled his way across the room. What was that sound? A cave in? No sense…
He reached the top of the stairs. Noise getting louder and clearer. He pulled his wand out of his pocket. Tried to focus. It was coming from… Albus's room?
The stumbled through the door, wand waving about wildly. The noise was starting to die down, the sounds of trickling rocks and shifting stones fading away. He blinked again, trying to clear his head. This wasn't Albus's room, this was…
Hogwarts?
How much had he had to drink?
XXXXX
Albus cowered against the wall as the last slabs of old stone fell away. He lifted his head up and peered around, making sure he wasn't about to get crushed by any stray debris.
He had been so close! But now the stairwell they had been walking down was completely gone. In its place was a gaping hole in the corridor which dropped down into empty space. Here and there small wisps of blue fire winked out against the stones. The curse had come so suddenly he had barely managed to throw himself back in time.
He took a second to check himself. His back was screaming in pain and he couldn't take more than shallow breaths, but it could have been worse. Much worse.
He pulled himself up to his feet and edged over to the yawning chasm, swallowing nervously. The staircase was destroyed. If Nathan or any of the others had still been on it…
The air suddenly came alive with bursts of light and explosions, and Albus stumbled back, tripping over his own feet and falling on his arse. Someone was still fighting in the gulf where the stairway had been.
"Is that it?" David's screaming. Hoarse and manic. "Is that it? Reducto! Discordia!"
More explosions rocked the open air and Albus scrambled back on his hands. It wasn't just David, other voices hurled up from the abyss. Alistair… a girl's voice – Katherine?
So they were still alive, thank Merlin. Albus had thought that was it…
He wiped some dirt from his eyes. Nathan's voice wasn't with them. Albus had just seen him disappearing down the steps when the curse had hit the staircase from below.
No…
Albus hovered over to the lip of the rock, keeping as low as possible.
In the alcove across he could see them. David, Takeda, Alistair, Katherine and that other Ravenclaw - Samuel, he thought. They were covered in dirt and looked terrible, but they were still alive. Albus could make out a large cut on Alistair's head, weeping dark blood. Takeda's usually spotless robes were torn and burnt to near tatters. David and Katherine were pressed against the stone floor and doorway, trying to keep themselves as flat as possible. They were ducking in and out of cover to return fire at a group of Purifiers the level below. Samuel was lying back against the doorway, clutching his shoulder.
But Nathan, where was he?
Could he really be…?
"NATHAN."
Albus jumped back into the corridor.
What the hell was that?
"NATHAN. SPEAK TO ME."
A cold, piercing whisper filled the air around him. Albus stumbled back to the wall, curling up in fear, eyes darting around. Where was that coming from?
A ghost? Albus had never heard a ghost that sounded like that, not even the Bloody Baron. It sounded… weird, almost painful. It was indescribable. It carried an edge that was unspeakably unsettling to hear. It was like the sounds he was hearing where never meant to come together to approximate human speech.
"NATHAN."
A soft groan escaped from the stones by his feet. They shifted, sending a cascade of rocks rolling down and underneath-
"Wh-?" Nathan slurred. His voice was painfully weak. He sounded punch drunk, half awake.
"NATHAN. ARE YOU INJURED?"
The rocks stirred again, falling away as Nathan shifted underneath, he began crawling out of the fallen stones. Inches at a time. Excruciatingly slow. Albus watched dumbstruck. He knew he should go over and help, check on him or something, but he couldn't make his legs move.
What the hell was that voice? What the hell is going on?
After a long moment Nathan finally freed himself and groggily patted himself down, still on all fours. He shook his head. "I –", he mumbled. He stopped and spat out a mouthful of blood, "I… I don't think so…"
"CAN YOU STAND?"
Albus watched in frozen fascination as Nathan stumbled to his feet, clutching to partially collapsed wall for support. He certainly looked injured to Albus. His hair was matted in dirt and blood and his elbow was pointing at a weird angle. The open air behind him glowed with a dazzling array of colours as spells burned though the air, leaving him as nothing more than a silhouette. He wavered unsteadily for a moment, and then turned and limped over to the edge.
"Yes… yes, I'm fine. How is everyone else?"
"NOBODY IS SERIOUSLY HURT."
Nathan let out a long, slow breath. "Ok," he mumbled, "Good."
This was fucked. Albus was watching Nathan chatting with a disembodied voice. It was too surreal. Had there been someone else following the group the whole time, like him?
"YOU CANNOT REACH US FROM THERE. NOT WHILE THE PURIFIERS ARE HERE."
Us?
It was so raspy, so cold. Albus couldn't tell if it was even human, let alone a boy or girl.
"So what do I do?"
"WE WILL CONTINUE ONWARDS. YOU WILL FIND A WAY AROUND AND MEET US."
Nathan looked down; Albus assumed he was looking at the rest of the group. "There are Purifiers all over the castle. The chance of me getting to you again are -"
"WE WILL CONTINUE ONWARDS," the voice repeated. It sent chills down Albus's spine, "AND YOU WILL FIND A WAY AROUND AND MEET US. IF YOU CANNOT FIND US AGAIN, FOLLOW COURSE IDLE."
Course what? Albus's head was spinning. He did not know what he had expected when he left the Room of Requirement, but this was definitely not it. For a long moment, Nathan was as still as a statue.
"Understood."
A brief silence fell over the corridor, lit by the shifting greens, reds and purples of curses beyond the wall.
"GO."
The curses and the bright colours faded away in starts and stops before they died altogether. The rest of the group must had made a run for it, and the Purifiers and either given chase or decided to move on. Albus sat blinking in the sudden darkness of the corridor. He couldn't begin to understand what he had just witnessed. Nathan had been taking… orders. But why? And from what?
What is going on?
Nathan continued looking out at the expanse before sighing and looking down at himself. He grimly glanced over his arms and legs, checking for injuries.
"Fuck," he sighed. He limped away from the alcove. His eyes turning towards…
Straight towards Albus.
Dumb shock crossed his face. "Albus?"
In the surreal aftermath of the voice's appearance, Albus had completely forgotten about the Invisibility Cloak, which was now draped haphazardly over himself.
Oh no. This was not good at all.
"Albus?" Nathan repeated. "Al, is that you?" He inched forward, squinting his eyes against the darkness.
"Um, yeah…" Albus coughed, feeling suddenly awkward, like a first year caught out of bed. He stood up, barely meeting the older boy's eyes. "Um… hey Nathan."
Nathan continued staring at him, his face etched in disbelief. He took a step forwards and his leg buckled slightly, dropping him onto one knee with a gasp of pain. Without thinking, Albus jumped over to grab him. He managed to put Nathan's good arm over his shoulder and prop him up.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
Nathan winced and leant back against the wall. An odd expression crossed his face. "Yeah," he gasped, "I'm fine. Just got the wind knocked out of me is all."
"You look hurt." Albus said, awkwardly attempting to fill the silence with anything other than the one thing he was thinking about.
"I'm fine," Nathan repeated, grimacing as he reset his weight onto his other leg. He rolled out his shoulder, watching Albus. "Al… Al, how long have you been here?"
"I just got here," he lied instinctively, so casual it sounded true even to his own ears. "I- I decided to follow after you guys after you left the Room of Requirement… Um, but I got turned around and couldn't find you." He scratched his arm nervously, "Until now, that is," he added inanely.
Nathan's face didn't change, "You left to follow us? Al, that was monumentally stupid."
"I know, I j-"
"This isn't a game you know. The school's under attack."
"I know."
Nathan frowned. "Where are Keegan and the others?"
"I dunno," he muttered, "Left them in the Room of Requirement, looking after Amy."
"Why did you come?"
"Dunno…" He couldn't meet Nathan's eyes. "Wanted to help…"
"So you came out to fight… by yourself?"
Albus rubbed his arm, feeling his face heat up.
"No offence Al, but… I mean, in the DA…"
I'm no fighter. I'm no hero.
"I know. I just… I wanted to help."
He could feel Nathan's gaze boring into him. After a moment he sighed, rubbing a dirty hand over his face. "God dammit…" He sounded so tired. "Is that James' Cloak?"
"What?" Albus looked dumbly at the Invisibility Cloak on his shoulder.
"That Cloak, I've seen James using it before."
"Oh…Well, yeah… It's kind of a family heirloom… thing."
"I'm pretty sure your dad grounded him for two months for stealing it."
"Three. But, dad… he gave it to us over the Christmas break. Told us he wanted us to stay safe. Stay out of trouble…"
"Ah..."
The silence stretched out. Each of them watching the other in the empty hallway. Far away the echo of an explosion floated through the corridor.
"Al," Nathan said, "It's dangerous out here. You should go back up to the–"
"Who was that voice?"
"Wh-?" Nathan's eyebrows disappeared into his hair.
"That voice, the one you were talking to? Who was that?" Albus felt a cold sweat pass over him. This was a mistake, a big mistake. Stop talking now. Don't ask. Have to ask.
"Albus, you don't underst –"
"What's Course Idle?" He couldn't stop himself. He needed to know. This was Nathan, who had been over their house countless times, who Albus had known and looked up to for years. Albus wanted to know what he was doing. "What is it? What was that voice?"
Nathan leaned heavily against the wall, looking deflated. He closed his eyes and let out another long breath. In that moment he didn't look like the older Gryffindor Albus had respected for so long. He looked weak, grubby and very, very tired.
His hand shot up.
"Stupefy! Gah!"
The red bolt passed over Albus's shoulder and hit the wall behind him. On instinct Albus threw himself to the side, landing with a hard thud. Pain lanced through his hip. He rolled over and scrambled the rest of the Invisibility Cloak over himself in a panicked sprawl.
Nathan was gripping his arm. He looked like he was in a lot of pain, it must have been broken after all. It was amazing he was still holding his wand at all. He had dropped back down onto one knee, looking out over the hallway. Looking for Albus.
"Albus," he gasped "Please… Listen to me…" He spoke through gritted teeth, still clutching his arm, "You don't understand."
No shit he didn't understand. Nathan had tried to hex him, for real! The bottom had dropped out of Albus's stomach. This couldn't be real. This had to be some kind of horrible dream.
All those years, all that time, and now this? What was happening? All he had wanted was to try and help, but now the world had stopped making sense. Nathan had attacked him. He didn't know what to think, he didn't know what to do.
"Albus?" Nathan repeated, his voice rising a pitch. "You have to trust me… Please."
Trust him.
He froze, trying to keep his breathing low and quiet.Trust him? Was there more to this? Was he just jumping to conclusions? It was Nathan, after all.
"Just…just talk to me," he panted. "Let me explain…"
Albus opened his mouth, but the words refused to come out.
"It's too dangerous out here, Al. You won't make it if you don't have anyone to watch out for you. There are Purifiers out there. You know what those sick bastards will do to you if they catch you."
Albus swallowed a lump in his throat. The thought had crossed his mind. The son of Harry Potter? Death would be the last thing they would give him.
"I get it. Wanting to help out. Wanting to make sure James makes it out ok. Hell, we all want to help out."
It was like he was reading Albus's mind.
"But ask yourself Al, honestly. Do you really think that you'll be able to help?"
Nathan had known him since his first year, he knew about his fights with Scorpius. His failures at Quidditch. His constant need to be protected from older Slytherins. The debacle in third year that had nearly cost Keegan an eye. His abysmal showings in Dumbledore's Army. Nathan knew what Albus was. And more importantly, what he was not.
What was he thinking being out here? This was so stupid. This wasn't him. He had come out on some misguided notion of being a hero, and it was going to get him killed.
No. He was going to go back. He was going to help the others get out safely. He was going to live another day.
"Al…" Nathan winced, eyes still scanning the corridor, "It's ok…"
He opened his mouth to speak.
Nathan carried on. "It's ok to be afraid."
The words froze in Albus's throat.
Ok to be afraid?
He had been sitting in the Room of Requirement, huddled with Keegan and Scorpius around Amy's stretcher. Waiting with the rest of the students while Professor Rook organised the evacuation. It felt like ages ago. He had seen Nathan and the others slip out a side door. He had understood what they were doing. Felt the same shame he had felt countless times before. And he had been afraid.
He had been afraid of helping. Of leaving his friends behind and slipping out to find James and the others. Of putting himself in danger. Real danger. He had been so afraid.
And the feeling had sickened him.
Slowly, painfully slowly, Albus rose to his feet.
No. No it was not ok to be afraid. He was sick of living with that fear, of being the coward. Things had changed, that much was clear. There was more going on tonight that just the Purifier attack. He looked at Nathan, gingerly switching his wand to his other hand. He had always been kind to Albus, but he saw Albus like so many others did - a sorry extension of his brother and father. The coward Albus Potter; who needed looking after, who needed protecting, who would shy away at the first sign of danger.
But that was not Albus. Not tonight.
He turned and starting edging down the hallway.
Whether he could suddenly read Albus's thoughts or he heard the faint patter of his feet, Nathan suddenly straightened. "No…"
Keeping low, Albus put more distance between them.
Fuck the Purifiers.
Fuck Nathan.
Nathan's voice rose, "Don't go after them. Albus, don't go after them!"
Fuck being a coward for another day.
Albus turned his back to the older Gryffindor and started running.
"Albus!" Nathan howled, "No! Stupefy! Stupefy!"
Red bolts blurred past him as he ran.
There was something more going on tonight than the Purifier attack, and Albus was the only one who knew about it. He was the only one who could do something about it. He was more than just another Potter. He was more than a coward.
Maybe tonight, even Albus Potter could be a hero.
"Albus!" Nathan shrieked down the hallway. There was a frantic edge to his voice, a desperation that was chilling to hear.
"Don't let them see you Al! You hear me? DON'T LET THEM SEE YOU!"
XXXXX
The stones slowly turned from shadowy grey to pale silver, evaporating into a pale mist. The mist in turn faded away, the long hallway fading to leave only the far wall of Albus' room. In the centre of it all, steadily coming into view, Albus lay still on his bed. Looking just as he always did, unchanged, unmoved, uncaring.
James leant against the wall. His head was spinning but it wasn't the alcohol. He felt monumentally sober compared to a few minutes before when he had stumbled up to Albus's room. When the world still made sense.
Nathan had lied.
That much was obvious. A simple fact, but one that had levelled James's world. Nathan had lied. Probably James's oldest friend, who he had trusted more than anyone else, and he had betrayed him. He had seen Albus. Hell, he had attacked Albus. And there was more. There was clearly so much more that he had been keeping from him.
James realised his hand was clenched painfully tight. He made himself unclench it. It was still in his hand, leaving red indents in his skin, that little glass bottle of Veritaserum. The sight of it stirred something in James, a warm sensation that took him a moment to identify.
Anger. A deep, boiling anger coursed through him and set fire to his veins.
Nathan had lied.
Barely even conscious of what he was doing. James strode out of the room, through the hallway and down the stairs. Passing through the living room in a haze James seized a fistful of floo powder. Breaking another promise to his father and not caring in the slightest, he hurled it into the fireplace.
The fire burned green, and James took two steady breaths. He pulled his wand out his pocket and stepped into the flames.
"26 Orchard Street, London!"
Nathan had lied.
It was time to get some answers.
XXXXX
"Ms Faiers?"
Alex nearly jumped out of her seat. She managed to stay seated, but wasn't quite able to keep her coffee from spilling everywhere. She leapt to her feet with an indignant squawk, more out of surprise than anything.
She turned to see Charlie half leaning out the cabin, looking even more startled than she did. "Damn! Sorry Miss, I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine Charlie," she said. "It's my own fault."
The poor boy looked nearly ready to bolt. Three weeks on the job and he still saw every occasion as a chance to get fired. "Bugger me! I'm sorry I didn't think-"
"Charlie," she repeated. "It's fine. Really." It was true, her legs weren't even burned. The coffee was only warm. How long had she been spacing out?
To demonstrate, she waved her wand over her trousers. "Scourgify." The warm liquid disappeared instantly, though the smell remained. She would have to deal with that when she got home. "You wanted something?" she asked.
He eyed her warily, like she might explode any second.
"Lyndon was asking for you. Said there was an issue with the Muggle whatsits…" he clicked his fingers as he looked for the word, "Seat Seat TV?"
"That's CCTV. Did he say what it was?"
"Something about 'frequency'. Sorry Miss, most of it goes right over my head."
"Most of it goes right over Lyndon's head as well." She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She knew she was supposed to be the specialist but sometimes it felt like she was the only one on the entire team that paid even the least bit of attention to Muggle technology. Being Muggleborn, she still felt a pinch of annoyance after all these years at the ignorance most witches and wizards showed towards Muggle affairs.
Maybe that was why…
"Tell him I'll be over in a sec. I need to finish something up here."
The boy nodded and scampered off gratefully. Alone again, Alex's thoughts turned back to where they had been before she was disturbed. Back to where they had been all day.
The two figures that had entered her home last night. Hooded and cloaked in darkness. At first she thought they were there to kill her, like the old Purifier raids. But all they had done was talk.
And the things they said. The things they had promised.
She put the cold coffee mug back on the counter, untouched.
The things they had demanded in exchange…
With a sigh she pulled herself through the pilot door and headed down the tiled walkway. Up ahead she could see Lyndon barking orders at the clusters of workers milling around.
Behind her the great black and red train sat idle.
Only ten days before the school term started up again. And there was so much work to do.
XXXXX
James took in the room as he spun effortlessly out of the fireplace. A simple place, barely furnished. Wooden floors and bare, cream coloured walls. A hard, howling rain battered the tall windows. Nathan had only moved out of his family house after graduating. That would mean that he would likely be alone, which was good.
Speaking of…
"What the hell?" Nathan spluttered as he stumbled through the kitchen door. His wand was out, but it dropped as soon as he saw James. His face lit up, "Blood hell James! I really should remember to install the blocker in that thing. Do you realise what time-" Something on James's face must have shown, because Nathan's smile faded.
"What is it?" he asked frowning, "James, what happened?"
James barely heard him, everything seemed so foggy. He marched across the room, raising his wand.
"James, what the hell are you doing?" Nathan started raising his own arm.
"Expelliarmus!" James snarled. He ignored the wand sailing past his ear as he marched forward, eyes locked on Nathan.
"James?" Now there was a note of panic in Nathan's voice, "James! Wha- Arrgh!"
There was a sick crack as James's forehead struck his nose. Nathan staggered back, blood leaking out his face. Before he could get more than a couple steps, James's fist sank into his ribs, doubling him over wheezing. Another punch to the head sent him to the floor. James followed him down, pinning him with his knees. A flurry of punches sent his head rocking left and right. Nathan's hand scrambled up into James's face, reaching for his mouth, nose, eyes, anything. James leaned out of the way, trying to hold his struggling friend in place.
A series of punches rocked against James's side, sending bright flashes of pain through his ribs. He knocked Nathan's hand away, trying to put his arm up to defend himself. He had expected to be shouting, demanding answers, but they were both silent in their furious struggles. The only sounds in the bare apartment were the thrashing of limbs, hissing breath and the dull thud of knuckle hitting skin.
He fumbled with his pocket. He had to remember the reason he was here, otherwise he might just take this past the point of no return.
"Open your mouth, you fucker," he hissed.
"Wha-? Jam-"
"No more talking." Another punch to the side of the head. Nathan's eyes went unfocused. "No more." Another punch and his arms dropped.
"No more lies you son of a bitch."
Another punch.
"How could you do this to me?"
Another.
"James!"
James spun around, wand in hand.
It wasn't an attacker. Standing in the doorway was his father. His wand was out. On his face was a rapidly fading look of anger, which was being replaced by… Shock? Fear? Repulsion?
"Dad?"
"What's going on here?" Harry asked. He took a tentative step towards the pair of them. James didn't let go of Nathan's shirt, the cloth bunched up painfully tight in a red stained fist. He scrambled for something to say but nothing came out.
A soft wheezing escaped Nathan's lips. A long exhalation of breath. James turned back. Nathan was limply lying there staring at the ceiling. His face was slack, his glassy eyes staring off at nothing.
Harry rushed over, pushing James out the way. "What the hell did you do?" he asked, horrified. He started waving his wand over Nathan.
James scrambled up beside him, barely listening. He shoved his dad out of the way. This was his chance.
"James?" his dad barked, "James!"
He ignored it. "You saw Albus the night the Purifiers attacked Hogwarts."
He felt his father's hand grip his shoulder, wrenching him around.
"What the hell are y–"
"Yes," Nathan said flatly.
They both froze.
A wall of crushing disappointment hit James. It was all the more devastating because he hadn't been expecting it. Only now he realised that some small part of him was still holding out hope it was a misunderstanding. Still expecting it to be a mistake. Nathan could have never betrayed him. But here was the truth he had been reaching for for so long. But brought him no joy, no satisfaction, only the confirmation of betrayal from one of his oldest friends. A friend he had just savaged and force fed Veritaserum.
Harry stared back and forth between them, his face frozen in disbelief.
James took a deep breath. "Why did you tell me you didn't?"
Nathan's face was blank as he spoke, "I was… ashamed."
"Ashamed of what?" Harry spoke up, his eyes alight.
Nathan didn't even look at them. "For the part I played in what happened to him… For not realising what we were doing until it was too late."
"We?" James asked.
"The first…" Nathan stared unblinking past them, his voice flat and uncaring, "The Court."
"The Court?" Harry asked. He was now gripping Nathan's shirt himself, "The Court of who?"
Another soft exhalation, "Of Lord Noctis."
James slumped back against the wall. All the energy seeped out of him. His limbs suddenly seemed so heavy, his ribs burning. He put a hand up to his face to stop the watering in his eyes. Realised they were bloody and stopped. He didn't even know what he was feeling. He felt drained. Empty.
His father, on the hand, looked positively brimming. He knelt over Nathan, eyes wide and eager.
"Who is Lord Noctis?" he asked.
Nathan's breath came out in a wheeze, blood bubbling on his lips.
"I don't know."
"What?" Harry gripped Nathan's shoulders. "You said you were one of the first followers. How can you not know?"
"I… He… I don't know." Nathan's voice started several time before stopping, like the words were getting stuck in his throat. "There's a… Blackness… Fog…"
Now it was Harry's turn to slump back. "He was Obliviated," he said, shaking his head.
"Of course he was." James was finding it hard to feel too shocked. Of course it wouldn't be that easy.
"What happened James? Why did you come here?"
James leaned heavily against the wall as he told his dad everything he could remember of Albus's memory. At first it was hard to remember from all the Firewhiskey, but as he kept talking he found it easier and easier to replay the event in his head, as if it was carved stark into his memory.
"Don't let them see you?" Harry repeated, after James finished. "What did he mean by that?"
"Don't let the Purifiers see him?" James guessed, it had seemed pretty straightforward when he first thought about it.
"But Nathan thought Albus was going after Noctis. That means he was talking about the rest of the group. If that was the case then why give him advice?"
James thought it over but nothing came to mind, so he just shrugged. Harry didn't look any the wiser. He turned back to Nathan, who hadn't moved. "Nathan?"
"Because," Nathan said, still monotone, "I was scared of what might happen to him. If Lord Noctis or the others caught him following them…"
He fell silent again, as if that knowledge too had been Obliviated.
"What?" Harry barked.
"I… I don't know. Nothing good."
Like put him into a vegetative state an inch away from death.
His father stood up. He crossed the room and pulled up a chair next to Nathan. He sat down heavily in it. His eyes were cold. "Nathan," he said, "Tell me everything you know about Lord Noctis. Everything you remember."
"He was… at Hogwarts with us."
"He? So he's a he?"
"Yes."
"Ok… A student?"
"Yes."
"What year? What house?"
"I don't know."
Harry growled in frustration. He leant back against the chair. "One of Nathan's group. David and the others. One of them. It has to be."
"That makes sense…. Merlin, Lord Noctis was one of my classmates." James's voice sounded dull to his own ears, as flat as Nathan's. It all seemed so unreal "All this trouble…for a teenager." He gave a humourless snort.
"Tom Riddle was a teenager once." His father's voice was venomous as he stared off at nothing. "And he was terrible, even then. This changes nothing. Nathan, continue."
"He… he was a friend. But I knew he had a darkness in him, even then. As the years went on, I found it harder to follow…"
"How many years? How long has he been calling himself Lord Noctis?"
"I don't kn-"
"Okay, carry on."
"After the Purifiers attacked. He asked me to do something… I didn't want to do it… I don't… I don't remember… We argued, I think… Then it's all blackness…"
"And that's it? That's all you remember?"
"Yes."
Harry stood up from the chair and paced back and forth. James watched from his spot on the floor, frozen in place by the surrealism of it all.
"Dammit!"
He jumped as his father lashed out at the chair, kicking it across the room. There was a fury in his eyes that was frightening. It was like his whole body was radiating a force that he barely kept in.
Just for a second, James wasn't looking at his father. He was looking at the man who had killed Lord Voldemort.
"So one of Nathan's group is Lord Noctis," Harry said.
"Looks like."
With a swish of his wand, the chair was back in place. Harry sat down in it hard, leaning over Nathan.
"Ok," he growled, "Let's start at the beginning. Lord Noctis is one of your schoolmates?"
"Yes." Nathan's voice was dead.
"When did you find out who he was?"
"I don't remember."
"When did he start calling himself by the name Noctis?"
"I don't remember."
"When did any of your classmates start studying the Dark Arts out of class?"
"I don't remember"
And so it went for what felt like hours. Harry would ask his questions, trying to work out a way around the Oblivation, some hole he could gleam some answers from. Some kind of clue on who Lord Noctis was or what he was capable of. But every time Nathan would only offer vague answers, useless. Or he would offer nothing. To James ears it all felt muted, numb. Like he was listening to someone else's life.
It felt like his whole lifetime up until this moment was over, like he was standing on the precipice of a terrifying new world that Nathan's betrayal had uncovered. His best friend had been serving the new Dark Lord, along with who knew how many others. Through who knew how many years of school. It had all been lies.
The roar of the fireplace jutted him out of his reverie. His heart shot into his throat. Had they been discovered?
Harry was already striding to the door as James scrambled to his feat. He looked back at James, pressing a finger to his lips.
"Nathan?"
That voice. He knew it.
"Nathan? You here?"
Harry looked back at him, raising his eyebrows.
Bertie. James mouthed.
Harry nodded, opening the door.
"Nathan? Hey Nathan, where are y-"
A bright flash of red lit the room as James hurried after his father. He entered just in time to see Bertie collapsing in a heap, a folder of papers fluttering to the floor beside him. He hadn't seen him since leaving Hogwarts, but he didn't look like he had changed much since then. He hadn't lost any weight, and the same mop of curly brown hair spilled over his round, honest face. Was he mixed up in all this?
"Strange time to come visiting," his dad said, already fingering through the papers.
"I knew that Nathan was keeping in touch with him. Maybe they had arranged to have a night in" James's voice was still flat, almost as emotionless as Nathan's. For all he knew Bertie had been sent by Lord Noctis. Perhaps he was Noctis. He was past the point of surprise now. "Anything in the papers?"
"Hard to say. Looks like several draft of an article for… Birds, Beasts and Botany?"
"A magazine. Magical creatures."
Harry flicked through the pages. "I know it. Teddy used to subscribe to it."
"Bertie was always fascinated by the subject. I supposed he writes articles for them as a side job?"
"Perhaps." Harry finished with the last of the papers and chucked them back onto the floor. He brushed his hands against his sides as he stood up. "I'm going to make sure." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the bottle of Veritaserum that James had brought.
"Now?"
"Yes, then I'm going to finish up with Nathan, clean things up and make sure we left no trace that we were here. As far as these two are concerned they had a quiet night in and both decided to go to bed early."
James looked down at his bloody hands. The skin was peeling from his battered knuckles. He hadn't realised how badly they hurt until now. Nathan's ruined face flashed past his eyes and a wave of revulsion hit him. He had left his oldest friend broken and bloody in the other room. Nathan might have lied to him, might have known more about Albus than he had said. But James had lost control again.
What had he done?
"Dad," he said, walking towards the living room, "We need to fix Nathan up, make sure he-"
Harry's hand gripped him under the arm, painfully tight. James was pulled back towards the fireplace. "We aren't going to do any thing. I'll fix what you did to Nathan. You're going to go home and wait for me there."
"Wait, what?"
"You heard me. You're going to go home. Now."
James tried to plant his feet, but his father's grip was irresistible. "You can't just expect-"
"We're not done," Harry's voice was icy cold, "Not by a long shot. We're going to have a long talk. About what you know, about what you've done. But first things first, you need to get back home where it's safe. I'll deal with you when I'm done here."
"Look dad, I'm-"
"No." His father cut him off, "You don't get to say sorry. You don't get to be sorry. Not when things are this serious. This is real James, not a game. Sorry means it's too late. Sorry will get you killed."
James opened his mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't come. His dad's icy gaze had frozen him in place. In his eighteen years, James had never heard his dad's voice like this. "Stop and think for a second. One of Nathan's group is Lord Noctis. Do you have any idea what that means?"
There was a look in his father's eyes he couldn't meet, so James settled for looking at his feet. After several long, uncomfortable seconds the grip receeded. Out the corner of his eye, he saw Harry throwing another fistful of floo power into the fire.
A cold feeling began creeping into his gut. A dawning comprehension of horror.
One of Nathan's group was Lord Noctis.
And James had told them about Albus, that he had been following them that night. They knew everything.
But that wasn't the worst of it.
That wasn't even close.
Over the last week had been alone with all of them.
He had been alone in Takeda's house with three of them.
He suddenly felt very sick. He thought back, events playing out differently than he remembered. The smiles on David and Samuel's faces now seemed far more sinister. Takeda had laughed at him when he had visited. It was after James said that he didn't need protection when he was just flooing over to the house of a friend. James had thought he had been laughing over James's choice of words.
He hadn't been.
He had been laughing because James had walked into the jaws of the enemy without a clue. He had blindly sauntered into the lion's den without any protection, without anyone knowing where he was. He was an idiot. He could have been killed, or much worse.
So why hadn't he?
"Dad, I'm sor-"
But Harry was already floating Bertie through the other room. He turned the corner and disappeared from view without a backwards glance. James turned back towards to green flames and stepped through.
He had come to Nathan's thinking he might finally get some answers, but now he was left with more questions than ever.
XXXXX
A/N
So it's been a while. Again. Honestly, you have Evergreen 360's wonderful review to thank for me getting this chapter out this soon at all. I'm working on 3 other projects (non fanfic) atm but figured I'd take some more time out to get this finished. There's a lesson here people. Say nice things about the author if you want them to do stuff for you, it turns out we're a pretty vain bunch.
Seriously though, sorry again for the delay, this chapter was more of a pain than I thought. Mostly because this is where the story reaches a turning point as things start heating up and that's always a bit daunting. It's actually gone through about 5 drafts to get to this point, and knowing me I'll end up making more edits down the line. Either way I'm glad it's done and I can move forward into the stuff that I'm more excited for. We'll see how that turns out.
That's all for now. Thanks for reading!