APOV

"Not a single spell i've tried has worked… it seems at least for the time being that we've become… Squibs…"

"Impossible. You two are the most gifted wizards the world has ever seen. How could this happen?"

"I don't know Raven, but something happened to us when Al accidentally glimpsed a page from the Tome of Fate."

"Excuse me? Why did my brother even lay eyes on that cursed thing! You were fighting weren't you!" Lily shouted, her voice sending waves of pain through my throbbing head. "He told me you couldn't wait to read it."

"Oy... Quiet please. All of you. I feel like my brains have been scrambled."

"Wotcher boss!"

"Ashera be praised!"

"Fucks sake Allie you scared us."

"Mate you're ok!"

"Al!"

"Majesty."

"Albus! He's alright!"

Raven, Max, Louis, Aurora and countless others clamored merrily around my bedside as I lay in a makeshift hospital room in the Room of Requirement.

"Water" I croaked, sitting up painfully as Victoire handed me what I asked.

"I'd like to know how this happened too. Lily suggests you were responsible?" Vivienne cowed, rounding on Scorpius in an almost motherly way.

"Why are we wrapped in this?" I asked, pulling at the red threads that were tied in clumps to me and my idiot. Knots, countless knots, a tangled mess.

Everyone eyed me suspiciously, before exchanging glances with each other. Had I hit my head that hard?

"They can't see it Al… now… I think everyone should let us rest. We had a long night BEFORE this mess with the tome. Al needs to recover. Isn't that right Victoire?"

"As their doctor, I firmly agree. Vivienne, Lily, you may scold the boys in the morning. For now they do actually need to recover. Al's head was hit pretty hard."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"I'll be watching you." Lily challenged, pointing her two fingers from her emerald eyes to me. He brothers same eyes.

At that we received a cascade of well wishes as the entire roster of our friends and allies filed out of the room.

Before Scorpius had a chance to say anything, I grabbed a section of red thread and strung it around his beautiful neck, pulling it tight like a garrote. To my surprise it worked. Scor struggled, incapable of release in my hold.

"Go on… spell your way out… should be easy right?!" I cursed angrily. "Mr. Powerful. Mr. Same level as me. Mr. i'm not that weak!"

"You… cough… heard… cough… what I was saying?" He croaked, struggling for air.

I tried to fling the glass of water Victoire had left for me across the room but my magic burned beneath the wrap of fate's chain, the tangle of material keeping my magic from escaping me.

"We're cursed…"

"I CAN BLOODY WELL SEE THAT!"

I shrieked, releasing the pressure on my hold. Scor relaxed, panting with his back laid against me. I breathed heavily too, the air flowing from me warm where it blew through the blond's hair at the back of his head. I could smell his stupid sandalwood shampoo, annoyed that I was too tired to push him off of me.

"Why are we cursed?" I corrected… specifying what i'd really wanted to know.

"I'm not sure Al… I tried to save you with fate and time magic as soon as we both glimpsed the first page. I could feel some other font magic clashing with mine so i'm guessing you tried some death of love magic too? I didn't know very much yet so I had to keep rewinding you as I accumulated more information from my tome. Finally a dozen or so pages later and I was able to… well I guess exploit our fate… the soul bond we share… in a way to seal the damage being done to you… it's just…"

"The result is that we can't use magic now… the red thread… tangled in the constant rewinding process... fucking FANTASTIC."

He nodded sheepishly, still wrapped like a child in my arms.

"Until we can undo the fate spellwork I used, no. I doubt it's permanent though if that's any consolation. Once we straighten out the cord we should be fine."

"Is that hope or certainty I hear in your voice?"

He didn't answer, merely readjusted himself so that he was laying next to me instead of in my lap.

"It was an accident… I didn't mean to hurt you… I'd never hurt you. You know that Allie..."

"Tch!"

I could feel his eyes digging into me from the side of my head. Finally I chanced a look over to him. He wasn't crying, because I could count on two fingers the number of times he'd ever cried, but he looked about as close as I'd ever seen him.

"I told you not to read it… but… it was my fault for getting physical with you Scor…"

"So you don't blame me? I heard your head crack and I... I was so scared."

"I blame you for not heeding my warnings… to force this merely to prove a point… to prove to me that you're not weak… because let's face it… that IS the only reason why you did it. But no, I don't blame you…"

Again he grew silent as he dared not to refute my accusation. I knew him too well for that. The only reason he'd been so obstinate had been to prove himself strong in my eyes. He could have read the damned thing on his own damn time… he'd sought to teach me a lesson by trying in front of me…

"UGH! How long am I to be a squib for? We both have so much shit to do! Not to mention we'll have to come up with some sort of explanation for this to the ministry. To our professors and parents too. We can't go on missions, we can't even defend ourselves. We're vulnerable now… if anyone tries to hurt us… you realize that right?"

"Yes. And I… I don't know how long it could take… I'll get on it as soon as possible… hopefully if we solve the theory of it… someone else in the order can rectify the curse with their magic."

"You better hope so… or i'll strangle you with this for real."

He made an expression somewhat akin to a snarl at me, not appreciating the joke.

"Don't threaten me… you wouldn't hurt me on purpose… never in a million years… would you?" He dared, grabbing me by the chin to force me to look at him. I got a little red then, trying to look away. He gripped tighter, keeping me in place. He caught me blushing and looked revolted. Then he leaned in to kiss me on the lips, a forceful accusatory move more than the 'heal each other' snogs i was used to. I resisted, pushing back against him. Finally I slapped him, mortified that i'd done it.

"Sorry Scor… you're right… i'm just… upset."

"No… Ashera I'm sorry… it was my fault… I was being an ass" He returned, releasing me to lie back onto our pillows with a hand clasped to his forehead. "Fuck i'm sorry."

"Humph… at least… I… like when you're this agreeable Scor. I can almost stand fighting with you."

"I can never stand fighting with you."

I watched him undress, a little more obviously than I normally did. I took in the shape of the v lines that formed above his underwear, the pack of abs tightening along his core. I realized how much I wanted him then, despite the throb in my head, despite the fear in my heart at being magic-less for the first time in my life. Despite how he'd kissed me in disgust mere moments ago.

"Aren't you scared?" I asked finally when he raised an eyebrow at me. His briefs were armani these days, black or teal. Today they'd been black. He pulled his socks off before sliding back in bed with me.

"Maybe a little… but I don't have the luxury of feeling it right now. I'm worried what might happen to you if i don't fix this fast… so i doubt I'll really let myself wallow in anything as decadent as fear."

I slipped my pants off of me, tossing them aside carelessly. I felt stupid when I tried to spell them into the closet. They refused to budge.

"Damn" I spat, rising dizzily from my resting place to retrieve and fold them by hand. I slipped my shirt off of me, annoyed that I too had no spare t-shirts or nightshirts to wear up here.

I came back to my idiot, feeling barer than usual. He raised the bedding up so that I could slip beside him, my heart picking up speed when he pulled me close against him.

"Just your body pillow am I?" I hummed delicately for him when I felt his fingers trailing sweet circles along my stomach, his legs sliding against my butter soft skin. Fuck him for that kiss' I thought angrily, though I dared not say anything. He thinks of us as brothers... and I...

"You just forgive me for everything don't you… no matter the harm I cause…"

"Fuck off sometimes you idiot… would you prefer I stopped talking to you again?"

"No... and for what it's worth I'm sorry."

"What for this time?"

"Sorry for the… you know… kiss."

I froze, confused by the intimacy of our current contact. His fingers were pressed against my bare skin, his body pressed against mine.

"Why do you… keep accusing me of … that… I don't want—"

and then I stopped myself… knowing I was about to lie again… lie straight to his face the way I hated doing.

"I don't Scor… you're so mean to me for suggesting it… I don't… have feelings for you ok? Not like that…"

"I was just being an ass…"

"I know I was the one that started it… all the kissing… and then there was the night in Paris… but I promise that you don't need to suspect me… I'm not…"

"Watching me the way I think? You're not hiding how you feel? Just to stay close to me? Just to keep us like this?" He dared, clenching his fingers into my abdomen. "You're not Lying to me again?"

"Yeah…"

"You swear? You promise?"

Oh Scor… don't make me say it…

"Do you swear on our friendship? You're one hundred percent honest with me."

"Y-yes… I swear on us…"

He relaxed, seemingly believing it. I was glad then that we were in the dark, that I had my back to him. I think that was the most desperate cry i've ever had… not daring to so much as whimper like a mouse, lest he hear me.

As soon as I heard his breathing shift, i strode straight to the bathrooms, collapsing in a stall to the floor. My hand came up to my throat, the pain trapped there an unbearable vice. I tried a spell to calm me but it had no effect. The red thread only glowed where it clamped constrained against the flesh of my arm.

I sobbed louder, tearing at the chord to undo the knots. To no avail.

"You're a liar… Slytherin child… you can lie to him so easily… funny how you think yourself so noble… so righteous, so just. You're not really any of those things are you?"

I panicked as i saw the outline of Voldemort's face haunting me in the private stalls mirror.

"SHUT UP!"

"You're just a power-hungry manipulative little faggot, clinging to his best friend in the hope that somehow he'll love you back… maybe you're doing more than hope… maybe you're trying to MAKE him love you. I wouldn't put it passed a freak like you."

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

"This is kind of hilarious don't you think. I finally wake up and you have no power to exploit… no fucking use to me now… what am I going to do with a magic less freak?"

"PEASANT HALFBLOOD! BE SILENT CUR!"

"Oh a biggot too… are you really the sainted one's heir, aren't you supposed to be all about the weak and helpless… truth and reconciliation and all of that?"

"I'm about me and my loved ones… do not mistake that… or what i'll do for them…"

"I sleep in a box next to your soul… you don't expect me to believe for one second… that I don't see what you really are. That I don't know what you long for from him in the dark of the night. How you'd beg for it… how close you are to forcing him to want you… you've planned it several different ways… haven't you. You've fantasized about how he'd take you... against what surfaces. In what positions. Even how rough he gets with you."

I was revolted by the accusation.

"I can fantasize about whatever I want, you baldy schizoid fuck. Go dream about being discount Hitler or whatever the fuck gets your perverted mind off these days. Just do it elsewhere. I swear you're not even original. Like a bad soap opera villain with a shitty backstory. Even old rainbow grandfather time made you piss your pants. How old was he when he beat you? A hundred and twelve? Pathetic."

"Take me Scor! I need you so badly… i've wanted this for so long. FUCK… HARDER… I LOVE YOU... I need you... INSIDE ME" Voldemort moaned, except this time it was my voice he'd used to taunt me… his face he'd used to make those expressions.

I clasped my hand over my mouth, worried for the first time that someone might hear.

Logically I knew everyone was asleep. That nobody was in the bathroom with me… but the sound of my own voice had haunted me…

Villainous red eyes narrowed at me as the snake Albus smirked in the reflection. It licked its lips, biting down on the lower of the two deliciously.

Then something happened that I couldn't understand. I laughed… amused by own queerness for the first time in my life.

"You're… laughing?" My reflection demanded, furious that his manipulation had failed.

I wet my hands and ran them through my hair, observing myself above the sink in a way I'd scarcely allowed. He'd batted those seductive long lashes of mine, bit down on my stunning lips.

"At least I'm really fucking hot… night... discount Hitler" I offered, winking, my fear, anxiety and paranoia tempered slightly by how seductive the sight of myself was in the mirror. 'There's strength in beauty' i remembered.

'Note to self… avoid bathrooms until my magic returns' I whispered, trying to convince myself I really had dismissed my every doubt and fear.

I got up early the next morning, going up to the Hero's beacon to use the private bathroom reserved for the tower's occupants. Just as i'd feared, the moment i exited the shower, Voldemort greeted me from the mirrored pane of polished glass.

"Discount Hitler…" He repeated, unamused.

"Are you really irritated? Because even you must get that that's a hilarious nickname for you."

"I wonder if you'll find yourself so cute and clever when I figure out a way to take over your body someday. Use your magic to kill everyone you care about."

"Yeah well, good luck with that baldy" I offered, applying skin products to my face.

"By the way… i've been meaning to ask you… was that like a style choice you were going for, or like a fetish or something?"

"Excuse me?" the dark lord asked, perplexed.

"Goddess you're not that scary now that I know you're just a silly voice. Like a rat dog the size of an alarm clock. All bark and no bite. Plus you're so slow… it's kind of embarrassing really to think anyone was afraid of you at all."

My serpentine reflection blinked stupidly in reply. I was right to assume nobody had ever spoken to him like this before.

"The bald thing. I asked if it was a kink, a style choice or a side effect of all those hoarcruxes? My money is on the style option. Although that's just wishful thinking because that would make you even less scary if… you know… you'd been going for that look all along. For what it's worth you were much cuter with hair if the history books are to be believed."

"Who do you think you are—"

"Sorry, I feel the need for a shit coming on" I quipped, interrupting my reflection to sit on the toilet.

I laughed, his face shifting into mine.

"Well i've never seen myself make THAT expression." I added, watching the image in the mirror rage, aghast at my antics.

"I will rape your Scorpius while you watch… I will kill every last…"

"Yes, yes, death and torture. It all sounds very original. Now I have another question for you. A real one this time. Do you suppose I haven't excised you yet because you think I can't… or don't know how?" I asked with a wicked smile.

"Excised me?" He repeated.

"You're a prince of the sixth font aren't you? You might have then considered—you impossibly feeble witted megalomaniac—that I might have left you in there on purpose because I had a use for YOU?"

He blinked stupidly, a fraction of understanding blooming.

"Imbecilic old man. Do not mistake me. You may have caught me out with all that Scor nonsense. I can admit that. That you touched a nerve last night. You may have even managed to fully wake up in my weakened state. HOWEVER… you should know that if I felt even remotely threatened enough by your presence in my body to warrant the SLIGHT distraction and diversion of resources necessary to remove you… I would and could commit to do it. Burn away the last vestige of your echo into dust. A couple weeks of research and Scor and I will kill you the minute we get our magic back. I am as certain of that as anything. I have a mild use for my Slytherin powers… and access to an extra font for my trouble… don't become a bigger nuisance than you are. That's my advice if you want to cling to that shadow existing you call a life inside my head" I explained, wiping my ass with toilet paper.

"Wait."

I rolled my eyes.

"What now?" I asked, moving back to the sink.

"Forgot to moisturize. Gotta look beautiful for your boyfriend."

He'd used my voice again, my face.

"Ashera, it must really suck being that powerless. I can't use magic but at least I have a body. You're just feebly clawing at anything you think will give you purchase on the real world. Here I thought you had a better point to make. A better attack. I'll give you one more try. Think harder of something that might actually work. Another angle, another insult, another wound to my emotions. Go on, try it."

He gritted his teeth, furious that I wasn't afraid. Furious that all the purchase he'd found last night had slipped away in an instant.

"What renewed your conviction to resist my manipulation? I was managing to have an effect on you last night… with that Scorpius rot. I know it… It can't have really been the way you looked in the mirror. The way i bit my lip."

"Actually it really was. You were trying to unnerve me and all i could think was how hot I looked. It made me laugh. Laughter can be very disarming. You should have just stuck to moaning his name with my voice. That was having a far better effect. Now will that be all baldy? I have classes to get to and I'm not done getting ready."

"Actually there's one more thing. That quip about discount Hitler. It was… rather amusing. I don't think i've laughed in half a century..."

"I made YOU laugh?" I asked incredulously, already sensing where he was going. "Gosh and you switched tactics rather quickly. Dark Lord scores high on the adaptability index I guess" I offered, shoving an electric toothbrush in my mouth.

"What?"

"Yhom mmaheem hahiem" I mumbled through the foam and buzzing sound, internally delighted to watch the shadow me roll his eyes.

"You know who I was… Must you treat me like a dirty dish rag? Have you no fear or common sense?"

"I don't know? Must you live inside me, leeching off my life-force? Continuously attempting to undermine or manipulate me? Since you're apparently slow on the uptake... The adaptability comment was a reference to how you so effortlessly abandoned the whole threatening my loved ones approach to try the 'swallow your pride and try to befriend me' approach. Were you going to start joking with me? Bonding over how clever my banter was? Don't make me laugh. but do keep trying all these tactics… it's funny to watch you flounder around in that prison like a helpless guppy."

His smoldering eyes narrowed in fury and for a fraction of a moment I was actually afraid… afraid of what he'd do if he got out…

"You're very sharp aren't you Potter…" He gritted out, hatred raging in his expression.

"Possibly. Could be that you're just very obvious. Or perhaps very stupid."

"No... you're giving me too much credit little boy. I think you're VERY clever. An evil little genius in fact. How fun and NORMAL your life must be, to be so suspicious and competent all the time. Fifteen years old and you can see right through the Dark Lord as if he were a one dimensional 'Discount Hitler'. Not a FREAK at all are you? Really must be great working twenty three hours a day on real estate, geopolitics, weapons manufacturing… writing until your fingers bleed and your eyes dry out and your boyfriend starts to hate you for eclipsing him. One must wonder with such a busy schedule how it ever leaves you with all that time to seduce your best friend on top of it all. How much he'll hate you when he finds out your true feelings. Like I said yesterday, you're just a manipulative little freak faggo—"

I began gargling before he could finish the sentence, spitting out the waste down the drain.

"Hmmm maybe I am. You're the first person I've admitted it to. Let's try it. I'm gay" I tested into the mirror, ignoring Voldemort's repeated attempts to send emotional hooks into me. "I'm gay…"

"A freak faggo—"

I opened the vanity cabinet, interrupting him again to retrieve some floss. It was comical how even the hinges creaked to interrupt him.

"You realize that's like, not an issue these days. Do try and keep up. I know you've been trapped in a little box for what, twenty years? But the world has moved on slightly. It is more accepting. I doubt anyone would care who I fancy" I defended as I flossed my teeth.

"He will care… he'll know you were lying… if you ever let yourself go and live… if you move on and find another boy… if you ever fall in love with someone else… he'll know you lied to him. That you were keeping this from him for the very reason he'd been so afraid of all along."

I thought about that… thought about my panic attack last night… and the reason Voldemorts words had affected me in the first place. I thought about how I'd lied to Scors face. How he'd told me days before not to lie anymore, not to risk our health or lie… lest he sever our friendship for good over it.

"Quiet this time Albus. No clever retort? Have I finally hit a nerve?"

"Oooh I guess you win there Tom. You know my angsty teenage brain has ONE MORE emotional issue to deal with now. How EVER will I cope, as I simultaneously manage my four hundred million galleon Rhoyne estate transfer drama, geopolitical machinations, real estate schemes and music label. I guess it's checkmate for me there mr big bad baldy twat. You win! I'm down and out. KO. Match point. Emotionally G-U-T-T-E-D"

I laughed, watching his fractured soul fail attempt after attempt to rattle me. As if one more problem could ever be my undoing.

Then an idea occurred to me. I'd been on the defensive this entire time. Now I knew how to really unnerve the schizoid cunt. 'He can be manipulated too' I realized

"What do you think you're doing!" He cursed, touching his face as his features bubbled and changed under the pressure of my will. I constructed in my mind a picture of Tom Riddle in his final year at Hogwarts, handsome, a full head of black hair, his nose not yet deformed by the splitting of his soul. Then for good measure I made him a year younger than that.

Now we were almost the same age.

"Awwww. See! You were so fucking cute before you went all " I made a googley eyed face into the mirror, gesticulating my hands in crazy circles next to my head. It shocked the human tom as he touched his face on the other side of the mirror.

"Put me back at once..."

"Or what?" I asked, crossing my arms and leaning back against the wall of the bathroom. "Go on. Maim me. Try to. You'll do what? Send me smolder-y dagger eyes again. Oh I'm soooo scared. Don't you get it?! Only what he thinks matters to me. Only how he feels affects me. You barely exist as an echo in my mind. Even if you were real, warlocks have gotten so much stronger since you left the scene. Maybe there are only five british warlocks who could really challenge you, but the mainland has a myriad fighters who could oppose you. I for one would annihilate you if you were corporeal, and i've not even finished growing. You lost to Rainbow grandfather time at a hundred and twelve and you'd lose to me at fifteen."

"Ha, a little ahead of yourself are we? You think you're equal to Dumbledore?"

"Nope, I know I am. memories of you and your fighting prowess have been loaded into our training matrix. I've already fought you. I had to use both of my wands of course, and aging potions... but I beat you. I beat you about as often as not. Fifty-fifty when you don't cheat. So you don't really scare me all that much Tom."

"No I just scare everyone else. I'm just a Freak who scares everyone else" He grinned, using my face and my voice this time, knowing he'd touched a nerve again in the process.

I sighed, shaking my head.

"Maybe once that was true… but its no longer everyone. I've won myself a few friends… and allies… and my cascade of cousins supports me… besides… weren't you even listening. I only care what he thinks of me. MY SCOR."

"Then he's the one i'll hurt. He's only got half the country turned against him already. He's the one i'll go after."

"Tell you what Sir Hiss, if you manage to get creative enough to so much as dent a picture of Scorpius in the real world i'll acknowledge your power. Hurt him for real? Now that i'd love to see you try."

"DONE" He whispered, disappearing from the mirror world, cackling like some Disney witch.

"OOOooooooh soooo ominous. Ashera what a twat. Fuck it… fuck it Albus… he's a baldy twat stuck in your head. What can the fucker even do?" I cursed, examining my actual reflection for a moment.

Then my thoughts shifted, my eyes trailing to my full pink lips.

I'm gay

The words caused a blush to erupt on my cheeks. My facade began to falter, my feigned strength and confidence receding in the wake of the threat that had passed.

'Only brave when it counts' i heard myself say.

"Yeah well you're hot AF Albus, as the Americans would say." I offered to myself, turning sideways to examine my back and ass. "That's gotta count for something"

A knock came at the door and I almost jumped.

"C-come in!"

"Sorry Boss. Didn't know you were—you look nice this morning. Do anything different?" Raven asked, interrupting himself mid sentence when he saw me cleansed, moisturized and plump from my shower.

"If you only knew what my morning was like, you'd understand how nice that was to hear."

I walked over to Raven to kiss him on the cheek.

"Thanks… cutie… You don't mind me using this bathroom right? The order higher ups use it on rotation when you're not here…"

"I don't mind at all."

"Kay"

"Something is definitely different with you Albus. You hit your head or something?"

Raven realized how stupid that was only moments after he'd spoken.

"Well… yeah sorry. You actually did hit your head. My bad."

"I'm gay Raven" I dodged, completely surprising the boy with my statement.

"Yeah… I sort of knew that already boss… you know… what with us making out and you being in love with my cousin and all" He chuckled, making his way into the bathroom to strip for his shower.

"I'm gay too" Raven chanced, poking his head out of the glass door to state the obvious. As though there were some power in it.

"So I guess, if you're busy contemplating your queerness, that you're not THAT torn up about the whole becoming a squib thing?"

"No, actually he's devastated. Terrified really. Even if the little bitch is too consumed with thoughts of his Malfoy boyfriend to show it."

Raven yelped, staring at the younger boy in the mirror with abject shock.

"WHO THE FUCK IS THAT?" my tactician howled, his wand appearing in his hand as quick as lightning.

"Well, that certainly complicates things. Definitely need to avoid mirrors now I guess."

I opened the vanity cabinet again so that it was facing the wall. Voldemort's face was now totally obscured.

Raven continued to stare as though i'd lost my mind, waiting for an explanation.

"Nobody… just Tom Riddle…" I added with a sigh.

"TOM RIDDLE! He's, AWAKE?"

"Obviously he's awake Raven. Can't suppress him without my magic it seems. Luckily he can't seem to do anything to me like this either. Other than spew vulgarity and harassment."

"But that's… just creepy. I was in the shower! Does anyone else know?"

"No… and let's keep it that way shall we?"

"But shouldn't we…"

"No"

"Allie."

"No"

"But Scor?"

"NO" I yowled, impatient to be done with the conversation.

"So basically you're just going to—"

I left the bathroom mid sentence, trying to spell my bag to me out of habit. It didn't come and I rolled my eyes aggressively as I tended to do when I was annoyed. I picked up the rucksack by hand and descended the lift back towards the great hall. I saw Voldemort grinning at me as I passed by a reflective pane of glass on a trophy case. The again in the glass of my watch face. I sighed.

"Fine Raven. Have it your way" I spat to myself as I stomped my way through the castle. He'd be at breakfast by now.

SPOV

"I need to talk to you" Al interrupted, standing behind me as I chatted with Ashley and Lindsey Tilbury. He tapped me again, trying to get my attention when I refused to move the first time.

"I'm in the middle of eating. Sit if you want to join, but it's rude to interrupt."

"Flirt with the twins later. It's an emergency."

I turned to take in Al's flushed face. He looked beautiful this morning, his cheeks the kind of red that said he'd been running, not that he was embarrassed. Was his head ok?

"It's always an emergency. What category of emergency?"

"If I don't tell you now… I run the risk of chickening out… then we're going to have another massive fight about lying or omitting things and I'd rather just get your take on this problem right away."

"Sounds ominous" the blonde twin chuckled.

"Oh Another fight? Trouble in paradise Scor babe?" The brunet teased, annoying me as she spoke.

"Ok, i'm coming. Just let me finish my toast."

"For fucks sake. He's awake…" Al deadpanned, not meeting my eyes when I spun around. "Finish your toast later."

"You what? When? Are you sure?"

I got up without a second thought, not sparing a final word to the two cute girls from sixth year.

I grabbed Al's arm harder than was strictly necessary and marched us out of the room. We came to stand in a deserted corridor when Al turned sheepishly to stare away. His guilt was written on every line of his face. Suddenly he noticed a mirror to his right and punched me so hard in the stomach that I swore out loud.

"CHRIST! Did you just fucking hit me?!"

"SORRY! SORRY SCOR!" He offered, his hands covering his mouth in shock. He'd struck me Amelia style to push me back, realizing with a hint of a smile that he'd hit me too hard. He turned towards the wall to flip the mirror around. "He can… appear in mirrors it seems… and not just to me."

"THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY?"

"Don't yell at me! This is your fault, twit."

"My fault? How is this my fault… oh…"

"Yeah… OH. No magic—which we'll have to fucking tell aunt Mini about if we're to attend classes AT ALL—means no power to suppress his consciousness."

"But hang on? Why in Ashera's name did you have to hit me so hard?" I cursed angrily, rubbing my stomach.

Al waved at the mirror, eyes wide, as though it were obvious.

"Voldemort… mirrors?" He repeated incredulously.

"And I couldn't have just told the baldy fucker to fuck off?"

"He's not bald anymore."

"What?"

"Long story really."

"Is it?"

"Never mind the state of his head Scor. I don't want anyone exposed to him. Isn't that obvious?"

"Can he use spells or something?"

"Probably not… but he's tried to manipulate me… and he's desperate to hurt me in any way he can. I don't want anyone to hear one word of filth from his lips. Discount Hitler is my burden."

That made sense.

"Wait, Discount Hitler?" I chuckled, registering the joke.

"That's what I call him."

"Like to his face?"

"Yeah."

"That's kind of… hilarious Allie."

"I thought so too. You should have seen it. I kept brushing my teeth or gargling or taking a shit every time he tried to talk."

I stood there incredulously, resisting the urge to laugh until I realized Al had already chosen to use the bathroom elsewhere this morning… which meant he'd already realized this would happen. How long had he been exposed to the mirror demon? We'd only just lost our powers.

"Did he?"

"Did he what?"

"You said he tried to manipulate you… was desperate to hurt you. Did he? Say anything to hurt you?"

don't lie to me again Al

The words echoed in my head. Al had gone still, debating how to tell me what I asked.

'Well, how to frame it so as not to lie' I realized aghast.

"A little… I tried to be strong… for the most part."

"Are you, ok? Allie?" I asked, using his pet name and stepping closer to him. He frowned as though that should have been obvious. "What did he say?"

"He promised he'd find a way to hurt you… in front of me."

"Me?"

"Soul bond" Al muttered quickly, blinking. "Use our connection to… I don't know… get to me."

"Ok… but he's effectively helpless?"

"Uh yeah. Like a bird in a cage. But you know, he could probably shit through the bars or shriek at all hours of the night. If you follow."

did he mean 'stir the pot?'

"So you interrupted breakfast to tell me this because?"

"You said not to keep things from you. Didn't you?"

"I mean it could have waited until a bit later no… it's not like you weren't going to tell me."

Al grimaced and twisted his foot into the ground. 'I need to tell you before I chicken out and we have another fight'

"Unless you… weren't going to tell me…" I corrected.

"Fuck, I don't know. Raven came into Dad's bathroom this morning and could hear Discount Hitler too…" He argued, expecting me to read his mind. Is that an… apology? Had I been right?

"So before—presumably last night when you got up to take a leak—when you thought only you could hear him, you were going to keep it to yourself. Now that you know anyone standing near you and a mirror can hear him… you what? Realized you couldn't keep it a secret without looking insane? That's the only reason you're telling me now?"

"Like you said…" Al began, gritting his teeth "I didn't have to tell you right away… right? Was I supposed to jump up and down on your sleeping twit head last night, after our exhausting mission, after cracking my head open and losing my magic, after the fright of finding him awake after all this time, and shout 'Flight of the bald snakes has descended on me! SAVE ME SCOR!'"

"No! but I saw it in your face just now. You even said so in the breakfast hall. You're not sure you would have said anything to me if you thought you could have hidden it. Admit it."

He got quiet, and I realized it was almost impossible for him to actually lie to me. He cared too much about me to be dishonest… and yet this was one of the times he might have been. The big moments when it counted.

"DAMN IT! I told you no more lies."

"I didn't lie!"

"You were going to hide it! Another omission!"

"I don't know that! You don't know that! It literally just happened. I don't even know how I feel about it and you're already laying into me over this. I didn't calculate it. I just came down and told you as soon as Raven asked if we should tell anyone else. What more do you want from me?"

"To know that you're ok" I explained finally, releasing my anxiety when I was able to name my fear.

"Then I'm ok."

"Well, ok…" I repeated, watching Al shake his head and smile at me.

"You're infuriating sometimes." He added for good measure, his smile still stuck on his face. "Especially when you worry about me."

"You're one to talk."

"Huh?"

"Wrestling one of Ashera's tomes out of my hands while it was cracked open. That wasn't because you were worried I'd hurt myself reading it?"

Al blushed, which still somehow ended up as the cutest thing I ever saw. No matter how many times I saw him do it.