CHAPTER SIX.
ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER, THREE'S COMPANY.
Warning: Higher rating content.
...
After a mostly silent trek, they finally stepped out of the forest – once able to breathe in the cool breeze of open air, Harry sighed in relief. Safe. He looked around for his friends and the thestrals but he saw neither. Out in the distance, however, he saw a few specks running towards them.
From this distance, he could observe that one speck was growing at a faster rate than the others – Hagrid, probably with his long, half-giant strides. A few seconds later, Harry noticed the unmistakeable limp of Kettleburn who was running remarkably quickly in spite of his peg leg; probably part of the job requirements as professor of the creatures class. It took a little longer to identify the third but he was able to confirm soon it was Dippet.
While walking forward to meet up with the help, Harry looked up at Riddle who somehow had not a hair out of place, looking as if he didn't just walk in and out of a forest filled with falling autumn leaves and tree roots that desired to trip all who entered. Disgustingly too composed.
"How did you know where to find us anyway? Do you normally just wander the deep end of the Forbidden Forest as a past time?" Harry asked when it occurred to him that Riddle's rescue, while appreciated, was far from the 'I was just in the neighborhood' excuse.
Dark coal eyes flickered to Harry before turning back to the quickly arriving guests. "Don't be daft. I was nearby when your housemates flew out of the forest, screaming about how you and Solomon were being attacked. I instructed them to contact a professor and go straight to the hospital wing."
"Wha's goin' on'? The danger over?" said a worried panting Hagrid.
Harry nodded, unsure yet of how much to reveal. Although he was glad the malicious man-eating spider was now dead, he felt sorrow for his friend who had found solace in the similarly unwanted beast. He hoped Hagrid could find a less dangerous companion soon.
"Mr. Key, your friends informed me that the Acromantula that allegedly attacked students last year was to blame for this debacle. I had wondered where it went..." Kettleburn looked sternly at Hagrid, who was staring at his feet nervously.
"Is everyone okay?" Dippet asked, looking behind the dark haired boys to see if there were any stragglers or danger.
"Everyone is accounted for, Headmaster," said Riddle, putting on his O-student smooth tone on. "The Acromantula that was attacking Mr. Solomon and Mr. Key has been defeated."
Hagrid looked up, mouth agape and horrified, his beady warm eyes starting to water. The despair in his eyes was so moving, Harry wanted to embrace him. "Di- did 'e suffer?" he said close to sniffling.
"No," Harry said, comfortingly. Riddle shot Harry a disbelieving side glance. "I think I managed to rescue Ben before the Acromantula did any harm, but I used a bezoar that I borrowed from Professor Slughorn just in case."
"Wonderful job, Harry. How was the beast defeated?"
Harry opened his mouth as if to speak but stopped when he remembered Hagrid was still distraught and probably wouldn't take this well. Kettleburn coughed. "Headmaster, I think we can get the official story later? Perhaps when the boys have gotten checked over in the Infirmary and when you get the details from the others in their party?" he reasoned. Though it looked like he was just saving his protege from the gory details.
"Ah, yes. That's a good point, Professor. Hurry along now, boys. Let's get you and your friends together again. And," looking at Ben who was still hanging from his ankles from the Levicorpus, "Let's get your friend right side up. All that blood rushing to his head can't be good for him." He released Harry's spell and levitated the still unconscious Gryffindor to be horizontal before moving the body along.
…
For some reason Harry wasn't sure of yet, Riddle accompanied them. He didn't know what the Slytherin was playing at. He was too tired to start theorizing, however.
Upon entering the Hospital Wing, Harry was greeted with cheer and relief. Poppy ran to hug him, but as he was still covered with mud and foliage, she cast a cleaning charm before embracing him tightly. "I'm so relieved!" He smiled down at her, and she smiled back before promptly swatting his head. "I can't believe you went along with this plot! I thought you'd be better than this." Harry wasn't sure how to respond, but, then, teary eyed, she hugged him again. "Oh, you - thanks for saving Ben, and everyone, really! I don't know what would have happened if you weren't there."
Women.
Good grief.
Poppy stepped back and examined Harry while the actual school nurse had Dippet placed Ben down on a hospital bed. Everyone looked with baited breath as she did her diagnostics. After a few minutes, she nodded to them. "Well. Looks like he'll be fine, poor thing."
A quiet whoop came from Mervin's direction.
"He's got some broken bones and torn muscles from the attack, but his organs are otherwise undamaged. Even if he did get bitten, you did some quick thinking, Mr. Key. Do you need to be examined?"
"I wasn't bitten. I think I'll be fine, I'm just dirty."
The nurse nodded again.
"So, students, can I get a story from you all?" asked Dippet.
There was a pause as the members of the quest gave each other glances.
"Well," Mervin started. "I just felt that as Gryffindors, we wanted to have a little fun and go on an adventure as our destiny foretold... So, we decided -" Barty coughed not so subtly. "Or, well – I decided that we should go explore the Forest... Poppy – err, Pippa – told us not to but we sort of snuck behind her back. We went in the morning though! And I promised I wouldn't go further than the main clearing. We were at the edge when we decided to head back, actually... That's when we heard Ben scream and this huge spider – that I think was said to be Slytherin's monster last year? I'm confused about that – dragging him away.
"Then Harry comes in and like in one of those Gryffindor legends, starts attacking the spider."
"Just Harry?" Dippet asked, looking approvingly at him. Harry flushed.
"Yeah, we were all a bit frozen in shock, I'm ashamed to say," Michael filled in.
"That's fine, that's fine. It's normal when faced with a threat to yourself and your friends," Dippet said comfortingly.
"Then Barty kind of shook out of it first and sent spells too."
Here, Barty dropped his head. "I messed up. I couldn't aim," said a nervous Barty Crouch. "I – I guess I need to practice under the pressure more, but I ended up disturbing a doxy nest and that's when they attacked us."
"Harry had his thestrals then pick us up and take us back when we found Riddle, then you and then Kettleburn. And that's all we know."
They looked towards Harry who was then expected to continue. Harry nodded. "I ran after the Acromantula and kept trying to use Impedimenta or binders or stunners on it, so if I accidentally hit Ben it wouldn't do much damage, but the spider was very fast there were a lot of trees in the way. Eventually I distracted it by talking to it."
"Talking to it? Those things talk?" said Mervin.
"Well, at least this one did." And finding an opportunity to help out Hagrid, Harry said, "I used Hagrid's name, and out of loyalty to his master, it got the spider to reconsider hurting us." There, that out to lower any blow-back to his large friend.
"Really?" said Dippet with his brows furrowed. "That is very interesting."
"But just to be safe, I stunned it and ran off with Ben. Apparently the stunner didn't hold because when I got far enough I heard it coming towards me, and at the same time, I learned that I was stuck either going deeper into the Forest and risking a bigger threat or charging ahead and fighting the spider who was now angry that I attacked it. And that's when..." Harry tilted his head at Riddle.
Taking the cue, Riddle said simply, "And that's when I killed it."
"Oh, very impressive, Mr. Riddle. How did you do so?" Dippet said.
Riddle put his hands together, trying to look meek before putting on his best remorseful face. "Well, I cast the Killing Curse..."
Harry heard a few gasps, and Dippet's hat looked like it was going to fall off.
Riddle dropped his tone to fake humility, "Will I... Will I be expelled? Sent to Azkaban? I didn't know quite what to do. It was mentioned in our studies, and I just saw the students in danger and all I could think about was wanting the beast dead." Grade A acting. If Harry was knew nothing except how good of a student Riddle was, he'd have believed it.
Dippet put his hand on Riddle's shoulder. "Nonsense, my boy. You did a brave thing. Perhaps there could be better spell choices out there, but you had little time to think and managed to save Mr. Solomon and Mr. Key from imminent death. I'm proud of you." The headmaster sighed. "And now for punishments.
"For risking your schoolmates lives, Mr. Weasley you will be serving a month's worth of detentions and I must take away fifty points from Gryffindor for your brash behavior.
"For attempting to stop them, Miss Merrythought, I award you five points.
"For the rest of the party, I will take five points from each of you for going along with Mr. Weasley's plans.
"Mr. Key, for saving your remaining friends and chasing after the other at risk of your own life, I award you fifty points.
"Mr. Riddle. For putting yourself on the line to save your fellow student, I award you twenty points to Slytherin.
"The matter of the Acromantula will be decided upon with the Ministry. We may collect the remains to be studied, but for the time being, I consider this matter closed. You have the rest of the year and the NEWTs ahead of you. Stay out of the Forbidden Forest. Am I clear?"
The Gryffindors nodded with fervor. "Crystal," said Barty.
As Dippet turned to leave, Harry stopped him with a hurried whisper – "You, me, and the other two professors – we need to talk." Dippet furrowed his brows, not sure what Harry needed to say, but knew what it may be about. He arranged for a meeting the next morning.
Harry returned to his friends who were talking among themselves and Riddle who was still there for some reason, probably curious as to what Harry had talked to Dippet about. Riddle was too curious about everything. Within moments, they heard Ben waking up. "Ugh, what happened? Am I dead?"
"You're fine, Ben," Poppy said by his beside, hand over his forehead.
"Dippet took five points from you, can you believe it? You get dragged by a giant spider and -"
"WEASLEY," she snapped.
"Sorry, Poppy."
"Who saved me?" Ben asked.
"Harry and Riddle," said Poppy.
Ben nodded. "Thanks, you two. I don't know how a life debt would work with two people, but..."
"Don't worry about it, Ben," said Harry.
Riddle shrugged, but Harry could discern from the corner of his eye that he was annoyed at having to save face by denying a chance to get a life debt in his pocket.
Before Ben could protest, Harry said with finality: "You'd have done the same for me."
"Of course, though probably not as effectively."
Harry heard a huff, like an exhale from Riddle. Was that a laugh?
"Anyways, all..." Harry said, "I'm glad you're alright. I need to go shower and then sleep through dinner."
"Bye, Harry!"
As Harry walked out, he heard steady footsteps behind him. As he walked the length of three portraits, the person behind him had no words, so Harry knew who it was without having to turn around. "What now, Riddle?"
"Do I get a life debt from you?" Harry could practically hear the the upturn of Riddle's lips as he asked that.
Harry stopped immediately, his shoes almost screeching against the floor. He turned to look at Riddle who had his arms held behind him casually, looking all smug with his stupid smirk and his stupid sweater, and replied, "No. Absolutely not." The absurdity! A life debt to a future nemesis? Can you even kill someone that owes you a life debt?
That needed research.
Because Harry imagined someone who owed a life debt couldn't kill the person they owed their life to. And if Harry actually couldn't kill Riddle anymore, and well, wouldn't that be a paradox? Well, no. Aragog proved something.. it proved that it's now actually possible Harry couldn't kill Voldemort. He really needed to do research and talk to Dippet about this whole paradox business.
Harry's head hurt. Time travel logic was the worst.
"Really? I highly doubt you can just say no." And Riddle was right. Otherwise Snape or Pettigrew would have refused their life debts. And this would mean Ben might owe some sort of debt to either of them. Though if the life debt rules were so loose, it would mean half the wizarding world probably owed Harry a life debt of some sort after defeating Voldemort (and not just once) and that was certainly never the case.
A morbid part of Harry thought that was perhaps why people had kept dying for him, and Harry immediately shook that thought away.
"I'll think about it," Harry said, on the off chance there was something more to this life debt thing. "But don't count on it. Just assume I don't owe you. Besides, in spite of what you did, I would have survived on my own – I could have run left or right, caused the spider to chase me and freeing up my path back to the castle."
Whatever Magic ruled the laws of life debts, he hoped it would be enough that Harry had faced off with Acromantulas several times and survived, so Riddle saving Harry hadn't been strictly necessary.
"I'm sure," said Riddle cryptically, Harry thought it should have been said with irony but the Slytherin seemed almost sincere. "By the way, how did you know the spider belonged to Hagrid?"
Harry panicked privately for a moment before recalling, "Oh, Kettleburn mentioned it to us in class some time after introducing Hagrid as his assistant."
A few more steps of silence. Harry hated these sporadic interrogations.
Riddle spoke up again, "Why do you hate me?"
Harry was caught off guard – "What?"
"Why do you hate me?" Riddle repeated. "Most people at least appreciate it when someone saves their life, or attempts to, if you must insist on denying it."
"You're just... you're just very dislikable," Harry said, too tired to come up with anything clever on the fly.
Reaching stairs, Harry sped off in the direction of the Gryffindor dorms, fleeing from Riddle before the Slytherin could interrogate Harry any further.
…
On his way back, Harry bumped into Cedric who looked to have come from the direction of the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Harry! I was worried since I hadn't seen you in a while -" The Hufflepuff smiled before taking in Harry's appearance and leaned back. "And exactly what happened to you?"
"Long story," Harry said, with laughter in his voice.
"Tell me sometime, since I imagine the rumor mill version won't be as good as the real deal."
Harry smiled. "Sure thing. Anyways, I'm headed to the Gryffindor dorms to get cleaned up."
"Wait, you're not going to use the prefect bath? You'd deserve it."
The statement was said innocently enough, but Harry was starting to be alarmed by the similarities between this Cedric and Cedric of the 1990s. Back to the point, he didn't quite understand, "Why would I use the prefect bath?"
"I imagine being close friends with the head girl, prefects, and your Quidditch captain that someone would have invited you by this point!" Cedric said. Harry never realized he was so well-connected, but then again it probably came with the territory of being an upper year. Cedric paused as if to consider something, a smile creeping on his lips. "I bring friends over all the time. Maybe sharing is just a Hufflepuff thing. Strictly speaking, keeping membership limited is what prevents us from bumping into each other in the bath, but the trick is to go when it's unlikely for us prefects to bump into each other. Like, say, after curfew when everyone is patrolling." Harry wasn't sure where Cedric was going with this. The normally composed boy seemed a bit.. babbly. "Actually... Tomorrow happens to be my night off from rounds. What do you think?"
Harry was confused. Apparently that was evident in his face because Cedric clarified that he wanted to treat Harry to time in the prefect's bathroom.
Recalling the bath, Harry missed it. It was a wonderful experience.
"Sure -"
Cedric was all smiles. "Great! Meet me at the fifth floor behind the fourth door to the left of a statue of Boris the Bewildered a little before curfew so no one gives you any trouble."
...
On Sunday morning, Harry got a quick note with a time and place for the meeting with the Old Three, and went straight to the Headmaster's office after dinner.
It was strange to go to the gargoyle and not need to immediately come up with candy related passwords, but as Harry approached, it occurred to him that the password wasn't given in the note. When he stopped in front of the gargoyle, Harry asked an awkward, "I'm here for a meeting?"
The gargoyle nodded and stepped aside for Harry to step onto the rotating staircase.
Upon entering, Harry saw the three already sitting and Harry took the remaining seat. "Professors. Headmaster. I'm surprised I didn't need a password."
"Password?" said Dippet. "The headmaster's office has never required a password; his door is always open to his students. Your future Hogwarts is peculiar." Harry restrained himself from looking at Dumbledore with disbelief. All those candy passwords were just a ruse!
"So what is it that you wanted to speak to us about?" asked Dumbledore. "I heard a most peculiar story... Mr. Riddle cast an Unforgiveable and went unpunished..."
"Come off it, Albus. Mr. Riddle is a fine boy, defending his fellow wizard," said Dippet. Slughorn nodded in full agreement.
"What about Mr. Hagrid?" asked Dumbledore. "It's become clear time and time again that he was not the perpetrator in the attacks on students last year."
"Albus. I know it isn't fair, but look at it from this perspective: the boy and his beast are in Hogwarts, students are attacked in Hogwarts. The beast escapes to the Forbidden Forest and an attack is made on a group of boys who decide to explore the Forbidden Forest. This would lead anyone to easily conclude that there was a correlation between Mr. Hagrid's expulsion and the lack of threat against students. The board of governors will close the school if they discover I reinstate the boy. It will already take all my energy to keep the boy here, and I'm doing it as a favor for you."
Dumbledore looked disappointed, but he did seem to see reason. "I suppose as long as we don't know what attacked the students last year, we'll be unable to clear the boy's name."
"Actually, it's about something else," Harry said, speaking up. "You see, in my time, Aragog was still alive." The heavy silence indicated that the men were following Harry's alarming discovery. "But as Riddle has killed it and I still remember Aragog being alive in the future... I'm not sure what to think." Harry wondered if he should also let them know who the Heir of Slytherin and Slytherin's monster were. But as two of the three men in front of him absolutely adored Riddle, he doubted even his status as time traveler could convince them that the Slytherin was anything but a muggleborn, orphaned model student with a bright future.
Dippet nodded. "That is very interesting. Yes... very interesting indeed." When Harry asked if Dippet knew what it meant, the headmaster shook his head.
"Unfortunately, several theories of how time travel works exist. The time turner works in one way – never allowing you to change what you already know, as to prevent a paradox. But your ritual was perhaps the first true case of accidental distance travel, where it would be much more difficult to prevent changes to your future."
"Is it.. is it now impossible for me to return to my time and assume everything is normal? Is my time here just an illusion?" That would be great. It would skip over all of the battle and Harry would never have to deal with the question of whether he owed Voldemort a life debt because Voldemort would be unable to collect.
"Perhaps, but even if we told you that we certainly feel like we are real and not figments of your subconscious, it would be difficult to prove. A second theory may say that as you are here, your future is being erased and replaced. If you did manage to find yourself back in your Time, everything in between would change as a consequence of your presence here, and nothing would be the same, though your memories would probably be preserved. Perhaps your return to.. When was it?"
"1990s."
"Right, a return to the 1990s may end in your nonexistence, perhaps you would replace the new Harry of that time. Third theory says your arrival here actually splintered time itself. So that your true history remains the same while this new timeline with your presence veers off. Time travel causing inter-dimension travel, essentially."
"With the first theory, you may eventually awaken on your own, in which case your time here is inconsequential. The second theory means you may never return home as the way you knew it. And the third leaves room for you to actively seek a way back, abandoning this world but going back to where you belong. Those are the three I would guess could be the main explanations."
Harry was at a loss. He was sure there were other explanations too. The types of ways that time travel would occur was so various. Eliminating Aragog only eliminated a seemingly minor number of options, primarily, that this was like time turner travel where you can't actually change the future. He thought he'd get answers today. Not the case it seemed.
"So effectively you're telling me, you don't know."
"We're so sorry, Harry."
Harry sighed, and moved his fingers through his hair. This seemed hopeless. "And about finding a ritual to get me back on the off chance it's theory three?"
Dippet looked even more regretful than he did a moment ago, which was telling. "I give you my deepest sympathies, but at this point we need to focus on our war with the Dark Lord Grindelwald, you understand." Harry frowned and nodded, glum. "I'm afraid we can't dedicate any more time to helping you research. But..." Dippet pulled out some parchment from his desk. "I will sign you an all-access pass to the Restricted Section for you to use for your research. The school's resources are at your disposal, and.." Dippet thought some more. "How old are you, Harry?"
"Eighteen."
"You are in your majority then – I'll also allow you the rights to leave the grounds at your will."
"Headmaster," Dumbledore protested.
"Albus, I know what you are going to say, but given the circumstances, Harry here needs, nay, deserves the freedom. Harry, if you need anything else or have any questions, feel free to ask."
Harry nodded, and thanked the generous headmaster. While the opportunity was welcome, Harry felt like he took several steps backwards in progress.
He was now effectively alone in his journey.
…
That evening when Harry waited by the prefect's bathroom, Harry found himself surprised that Cedric wanted to be there as well. But Harry ignored it. He'd been so tired and disappointed as of late and he really needed a nice shower.
Preserving his modesty, Harry made sure Cedric had been looking away when he removed the towel at his waist and dipped into the warm bubbly water.
The soap of the month was Lavender Twine, which also happened to be the password. Cedric explained that's how they kept the password rotating, to theme it off the monthly soap.
Harry didn't care, how feminine the soap seemed, this was... bliss. No stupid romance, deadly spiders, paradoxes, and Tom Riddle were here to bother him. Harry relaxed and closed his eyes. Yes, this was perfect. He felt the water disturb when Cedric stepped in.
"Amazing, right?" the Hufflepuff asked. Harry smiled, and, eyes still closed, nodded. They sat there, in that large pool. Just quietly sitting, bubbles popping every moment or so. Otherwise, the air was still and he almost forgot the prefect was there with him.
Harry was feeling a bit antsy, though. So he fidgeted, and it caused his feet accidentally bump Cedric.
"Sorry 'bout that," Harry said reflexively.
"It's no problem." There was something strange in Cedric's voice.
Cedric coughed. "So uh, tell me about your adventure the other day. I heard weird things. Like a war between centaurs and giant spiders being fought, the Forest going up in flames..."
Harry laughed. "Well, it's close..." And he proceeded to tell repeat what he went through yesterday morning. As far as adventures go, this was mild, but Cedric was enthralled.
"You're amazing, Harry, you know that?"
When Harry looked at Cedric, he noticed the young Hufflepuff was staring at him. Cedric's hair was damp from the steam, his noticeably long lashes seemed heavy in the humidity. The realization that it was just two wizards sitting in a tub next to each together was not lost on Harry, and he had the thought that among the slight differences between this Cedric and Harry's Cedric from the future was the way they looked at him.
Harry decided that he would remain in denial until his thoughts were otherwise proved correct "Thanks, Ced," he said a little awkwardly, "You're pretty cool yourself. Thanks for inviting me in here."
The silence didn't go away, and Harry started to just focus on being warm in the bath and being thankful for the thick bubbles that covered the top of the water. He started to consider how he felt about Cedric. He meant what he said, Cedric was a great person. He was charming, charismatic, handsome, and had a group of friends who loved to be around him...
Cedric moved towards Harry slowly, the water rippling with the approach, water splashing against the sides of the pool. Deep down Harry started to predict where this was going, but his heart was beating fast and he wasn't sure at all if what was playing out in his head was something he even WANTED. But Harry was desperate for something good to happen to him and Cedric didn't disappoint. Cedric lifted out of the pool for a moment to lean his arms against the walls of the pool where Harry was sitting between, and Harry noted that in spite of being three years younger than him, he was slightly taller, slightly more built than Harry was. He dipped his head tentatively. Harry shut his eyes tightly in anticipation. Deciding to go for it, Cedric moved forward to kiss Harry.
Harry never thought he'd have liked kissing other boys, at all. But as soon as it started, it was as if a flash triggered in Harry's mind and Harry inhaled sharply. It was a slow, gentle kiss. Wet from the bath, but not sloppy like Cho – and wow, thinking of Cho while kissing a Cedric has got to go in the books as something weird – but as Harry started responding with less hesitance, the kiss turned into something more as Harry could feel Cedric gaining confidence to move his body closer. Out of his control, Harry started to get a little hard and he hoped that being underwater could hide it. But eventually Cedric brushed against it, and Harry breathed in a little sharply. Encouraged, the Hufflepuff placed his hand on Harry's leg, and Harry's arms wrapped around Cedric, lips only breaking contact to breathe. His hands were wrapped up in Cedric's very soft, lavender-scented hair, and Cedric pulled Harry onto his lap, the water around them swaying with every movement.
Harry was so distracted that he hadn't noticed the flaring of a dark, familiar magic. A lightning blue spell was shot in the water right behind Cedric. A warning. Harry opened his eyes, hoping, hoping that it wasn't who he thought it was.
The two stopped to see who was there, and just as Harry feared, Tom Riddle was indeed looking at them. Wand in hand, fully clothed. Why was he fully clothed in a bath? Harry was still a little high on hormones, so there was a part of him that started imagining pulling Riddle into the bath just to see how the normally stiff Slytherin would react. He imagined death would be imminent.
"Diggory, you are hereby revoked of your access of the Prefect's Bath until further notice," said Riddle, whose voice was harsh but otherwise calm.
"Riddle, come on. You've never had a problem b-"
"It's a problem now. Get. Out."
Cedric sighed, cocked his head to the door, and said, "Come on, Harry."
"Harry stays," Riddle ordered.
Cedric and Riddle seemed to have a stare down as Harry shrank into the water. Cedric stood, stubbornly unfazed by the bareness of his body as he stepped out of the bath. Out of politeness, Harry focused on the pool, but he did notice that after Cedric got his robes on, there seemed to be a pause in foot movement, as if Cedric and Riddle were exchanging a silent conversation. But that pause was gone very quickly, and Cedric walked out. Then, it was just Harry and Riddle in the bathroom.
"I was unaware you were a sodomite," said Riddle with a sneer. "You dating Vance finally makes some sense. An act of denial, or an easy cover up story."
"For the record, this whole kissing blokes thing is new to me," Harry said, uncomfortable but no longer stinging from a mention of Winifred, just wanting Riddle to go away. He felt really exposed just sitting in the bath while Riddle looked down at him.
"Or maybe you'll shag anyone with two legs? How many partners have you had exactly?"
Harry just leveled a glare back and huffed. "We weren't shagging." Not yet anyway. "And that's private. Can I leave now?"
"... get out of the tub," Riddle finally said, irritated.
Harry made a motion to do that and maybe figure out where Cedric had gone but he stopped. "Um, do you mind?" Harry said. Riddle was just... looking at him.
"Mind what?" Riddle asked, clearly knowing exactly what Harry was trying to insinuate, but chose not to acknowledge. Harry rolled his eyes.
Awkwardly, Harry reached for the towel behind him. Staying submerged underwater, because being naked in front of young Lord Voldemort would immediately move to the top of the weirdest moments in Harry's life, Harry pulled the towel around him. He wrapped the towel around his waist as he stood, the bottom of the fabric getting heavy and wet, since it was sitting directly in pool water.
"You look ridiculous."
Harry ignored him and tried to step out as gracefully as possible, intending to dry the towel later.
"Where do you think you're going," Riddle asked when Harry finished getting dressed and attempted to leave.
"The Gryffindor common room," Harry said.
"You should be glad I'm not issuing a detention."
Harry groaned and left.
….
The next day, Harry was practically on air. After a particularly enjoyable graphic dream – where Cedric and Harry were able to continue uninterrupted in the bath, he felt like it wasn't that big of a deal if he started dating Cedric, and started viewing the people he saw from a totally new perspective, evaluating what he thought of their attractiveness. It was almost fun, particularly because he knew if the Dursley's had ever suspected Harry could be attracted to other blokes, they'd have certainly tossed him out on the street for being doubly freakish.
And really, maybe it was the right thing to do considering all his failed attempts at relationships with girls ('I don't think I count as a failed relationship,' says the Ginny voice in his mind; 'Technically, Harry doesn't know that for certain yet,' shoots back Hermione, referring to the potential love potion.)
Among his closest Gryffindor friends, he thought Poppy was cute and had a nice bum, but he'd only ever see her as the mother hen that he was now very very certain would become Madam Pomfrey. Mervin was like an extremely socially inept Ron. No attraction there. Ben wasn't quite back from the hospital wing yet, but Harry didn't think he would consider Ben particularly attractive. Neither was Barty, though Harry admitted there was a sort of appeal in the aged version of Barty. Michael was tall, dark, and a bit rugged, though probably more due to genetics than due to Quidditch practice from school; but Harry found Michael's attractiveness drew more from confidence than looks alone.
Quinsley waved at him from down the table at breakfast. She was cute in a little sister sort of way.
His eyes scanned the nearby Ravenclaw table and picked out some good looking students... he stopped playing the scanning game when his eyes met Winifred. Nope, she was still very attractive to him.
All in all, it seemed like Harry didn't strongly prefer guys or girls; he was able to discern objectively whether a person was attractive, but as far as how Harry was attracted to a particular person... well that, he didn't seem to have enough self-awareness to determine. This, he took to mean he wasn't a completely shallow person, which was a minor victory.
Quickly he looked around for Cedric, but the Hufflepuff prefect was no where to be found. Strange, but nothing to worry about.
Out of curiosity, he looked over to Riddle who was casually reading the Prophet, acting as if nothing had happened the night before. It reminded Harry that he needed to come up with a convincing special back story that was fool proof in case Riddle tried to interrogate him about his identity again. He had the feeling Riddle wouldn't, as he hadn't asked again since that first time, and knowing the Slytherin, wouldn't want to waste his time. Riddle would have determined this much amount of time to brew was enough for Harry to make something up anyway. Harry would still try – better safe than sorry.
To be honest, there were a lot of things that Harry needed to do now that he'd had that talk with Dippet, Dumbledore, and Slughorn. He had delayed a lot of planning he had to do, mostly because he thought he wasn't going to be in this decade for very long. But he shoved that aside, more interested, instead, on finding Cedric and finishing what they started last night.
….
By lunch, Harry still hadn't seen Cedric, and Harry started getting worried. Was Cedric avoiding him, or did something happen to him? Throughout the day, Harry was reminded of his fourth year, a graveyard, and a voice ordering his servant to "kill the spare."
He spent the entire period after classes trying to find Cedric, by just asking around and roaming the halls. He started getting a little desperate, there really wasn't a good reason why Riddle would do anything to Cedric, other than to just irritate Harry.
Here was Harry's first attempt at love after learning going home could be hopeless and he couldn't even find the guy. Eventually, Michael's sister bumped into Harry and said "Cedric's asking for you."
Elated, Harry followed the Hufflepuff until she stopped him by the stairs. "Err, stay right here, please. Don't want to reveal the location of our common room..."
A few minutes later, Cedric walked around the corner, not looking very healthy, but it seemed like it wasn't due to foul play.
"Hi Cedric, Good to see you, I was getting a little worried..."
Cedric blew his nose into his handkerchief. "Sorry, I seem to have caught a bug, and I need to get to the infirmary soon... Look, Harry... I..." Red-nosed and all, Cedric was still far more attractive than at least half the school population.
"Oh, wait, let's go somewhere a little more private," Harry murmured, mostly to himself. Standing in the corridor seemed very impersonal. He took Cedric's hand and walked them towards the nearest classroom Harry could find.
"I think yesterday was a mistake," Cedric blurted before they even got the chance to enter any room, and he seemed to wince as soon as his words had tumbled out.
Harry turned to look at Cedric, his mind's gears seemed to have stopped running. He didn't comprehend. "Is this about the bathroom privileges? I'm really sorry, I didn't -"
Cedric shook his head. "No, it's not about that. It's uh... I just don't think it'll work out... in the long term, if you understand." Harry dropped Cedric's hand.
Harry did not understand at all. Cedric seemed very long-term partner potential.
"Is it because I haven't been with a wizard before?" Because judging from the way Harry's body had reacted last night, it wasn't a relationship he was feeling socially pressured to enter.
"No, more like.. similar to how Vance, you know.."
"You're going to sleep with other people?"
"What? No! No of course not, I wouldn't do that to you... I just... I just don't think it'll work out, is all. I just... I'm thinking some time from now you might be with someone else, and maybe I will too. I still want to hang out, you know. You're a fun bloke, and you're always welcome in our study room..."
At that point, Harry about-faced and just marched away, face red from a mix of embarrassment and frustration. This was unbelievable. He felt so betrayed. At least with Winifred, he had some warning, but this... this he couldn't have anticipated. He felt empty. He felt toyed with. He was so sure that Cedric liked him. So what had changed since yesterday? Just a fever?
Behind him, he heard Cedric walking away.
…...
When Harry got back to his common room, he slammed the portrait behind him.
"You alright there, mate?" asked Barty.
Harry just huffed and walked over to his favorite couch and collapsed in it. He threw his arm over his eyes, to block out the light of the candles and fireplace, just taking in comfort by being around friends – friends who weren't just going to kiss him and leave him the next day. Maybe he should just stay in this room and never leave.
There was almost no reason to do anything anymore. With his last adventure nearly leading to his friend's death, Cedric denying him a chance at happiness, and an almost complete stop on his mission to return back to his former life, life was quickly losing any semblance of hope. (Hermione in his head, rolled her eyes, 'Stop being so melodramatic, Harry.' The voice of Ron just reminded him there was always food.)
He heard a shuffle approach him. He peeked and saw Quinsley's small frame above him. "Um, hey, Harry," she said softly, brown eyes filled with worry.
"Hey Quinsley, what's wrong."
She raised her eyebrows before giggling slightly. "I should be asking you that." She offered him a chocolate frog. "Chocolate – to make you feel better."
"Thanks," he said sincerely. "That's really kind of you."
Harry then had a strong feeling of deja vu. And considering his time travel, he was paying close attention to anything that seemed strange and familiar. He sat up to look at Quinsley intensely.
Something about her seemed incredibly familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it. He didn't know very many East Asians, but she didn't look anything like Cho – Cho had a fragile look about her in spite of being a Quidditch player. Quinsley looked slightly tanner, more European, and had a smaller frame than Cho – which may have been a perception thing since Cho was older whereas Quinsley was younger. She was also much more tom-boyish.
No, Harry was only thinking of Cho because he associated her closely with Cedric.
With all his focus on her, Quinsley's face was starting to get even redder, red enough that Harry noticed that it wasn't from the fireplace or the red tones in the room. She tried to laugh it off, but then she quickly fled upstairs to her dorm.
Harry was about to take a bite out of chocolate frog when he remembered another young girl who had that same bizarre behavior... Ginny. Quinsley reminded him of Ginny.
Bloody hell, Quinsley had a crush on him. And he had absolutely no intention of returning those feelings. Harry slammed his head back down on the couch, grabbed a couch cushion, and smashed it over his face.
"Ah look, mates, Harry's finally figured it out," teased Mervin. Bugger... if Weasley figured it out before him, Harry must have been very dense.
….
Author's Note:
And so ends Arc 1, where Harry's goals of finding true love and going home are unfortunately squashed. Tune in next time, as Harry starts acting less like a visitor and more like a permanent guest of the 1940s. Hope you liked it!