It was the day of the meeting. Reluctantly Lily and Severus agreed to stay in the castle while the other two made their way into the village of Hogsmeade. The pub was empty when they arrived and they ordered a pint as to not be suspicious. They sat mostly in silence feigning small talk. Customers appeared and their drinks went dry, yet no one was there.
"We've been here for an hour. What do you think?" Remus asked.
Harry looked around the tavern, only a drunk and a couple of elderly witches were present. Something felt off, Riddle's faithful servants were fearfully punctual. "I don't know, maybe something's gone wrong. Let's give it another thirty minutes anyway."
They sipped at their second pints in silence. Around the time they finished Lily messaged them.
Come back. Meet in the courtyard, Peter Pettigrew is missing.
Remus gave him a shocked look, and they took off for the courtyard. Worry was ready on his face as they walked back in silence.
Standing in the courtyard were a nervous James and Sirius talking together, with Lily not far from them.
"What happened?" Remus called to them.
"Peter's bed is right next to mine, I didn't think too much of it when I didn't see him come up last night. But we've looked everywhere, he's nowhere to be seen," James said, then lowering his voice, "not even on you-know-what."
The Marauder's Map. If he wasn't on there, did he find out about the room? Harry cursed internally and looked at Remus. "Remus, you go with them. Me and Lily will search what you might've missed."
James gave a thankful nod and they left.
"Where first?" Harry asked.
"The dorms. I find it unlikely he'd find out, but..."
They rushed to the Unity Dorms. "Lily, our contact didn't come."
"And?"
He cursed himself for not telling her earlier. "I think it might've been Pettigrew."
"What? No!"
"I'll tell you later, I thought… I don't know what I thought, I'm sorry Lily."
Password spoken they rushed to it wand in hand. Severus was already standing there.
"I already checked the Room of Requirement. If it's in use it shouldn't have allowed me to bring up the training room. I mean except for Keldran, however he's hiding his study."
"Damn it!" Harry cursed.
"So what do we do now?" Lily asked.
"He was our contact." Severus said.
"Sev! Not you too."
He shot a knowing glance at Harry. "You thought so as well?"
Harry nodded. "When our contact didn't show, it's not too much of a stretch. Christ, I hope we were right, because if he knows."
"It doesn't make sense," Severus said, "why not string us along by letting us think we know more? Unless he was called for something urgent."
"And expose himself by going missing? Why would he draw that attention?"
"In any case, we'll let James tell the prefects, they will inform the Headmaster." Lily said looking at him.
"I get the feeling he'll call me to his office soon enough." said Harry.
"So he knows about you?" Severus asked.
"Partly. Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about our safety. As long as Dumbledore is inside Hogwarts, Riddle will be hesitant to attack from the outside."
Prefects were alerted, teachers were called, the Headmaster appeared and spoke with Sirius, Remus, James and Lily. Harry and Severus waited together patiently in the Slytherin dungeons. Luci asked what was happening and he explained Peter Pettigrew had gone missing. Harry was reminded of his previous stint at Hogwarts. Fear and uncertainty had finally struck.
He was correct about being called to the Headmaster's office. It was in the evening that professor Slughorn guided him to the tower. He trusted Lily and Remus not to have betrayed their secrecy, although he doubted Dumbledore would try to be heavy handed.
The Headmaster stood with his back to them observing the empty spot where the Sorting Hat had been before. He lowered his head as they entered. "Thank you, professor, you may leave me with Mr. Peltier."
Slughorn gave Harry an awkward smile as he left and a cold he knew all too well filled the air between them.
Dumbledore turned to him. "I vowed to give you assistance, but my duties as Headmaster of this school is not something I can ignore. The disappearance of a student within these walls is a grave matter indeed. I'll be direct, do you know what happened to Peter Pettigrew?"
Harry sighed and looked down. "I suspect he might have gone over to you-know-who, and quite some time ago. But I don't know where he is, it makes no sense for him to disappear."
The Headmaster turned serious and his eyes shifted, putting together a puzzle in his mind. "In this very school, and that's why you're here. Now, I wish I didn't know."
Albus trembled as he sat down at his desk, removing glasses with an unsteady hand. His eyes peered into the glass of the spectacles, trying to find an answer in glints and reflections. "Harry my boy, reassure me you are on the right path. I find it difficult to stay distant when students disappear from this place of safety."
"Sir," he started, "I don't know what this means. The only thing I know is if I don't continue, a lot more people will die. I can't go back, and I can't leave those around me out to dry. Not now."
Dumbledore sighed. "I have alerted the Ministry and the boy's parents. They'll search the castle. They might interrogate you and any other students. Are you sure your secrets are well kept?"
He nodded. "I trust my friends with my life, as long as there's no truth serum used nothing will make it out."
Dumbledore smiled wearily, the burden of decades rife on his features. "I wish you the best with your endeavors. It is my greatest wish that life may be preserved by your actions, including yours."
As he re-entered the dungeons, Luci and Regulus were impatiently waiting for him, they huddled around him. Severus was in a corner pretending to read, watching him.
"Well?" Regulus asked.
"He just wanted to know if I knew anything, since I've been hanging out with Remus and Lily."
"What do you think is going to happen?" Luci asked.
"The Ministry will come, search the castle. Nobody knows what's going on, but I bet the paranoia won't take long to set in. Sorry, I'm getting some sleep soon," he said with a smile, "see you in the morning."
-sSsSsSsSs-
Breakfast was filled with whispers concerning the missing student. The Aurors came in not much after, trailing with an animated and quick eyed Alastor Moody. Without the limp and the disfigurement, he was a sight to behold. If anyone had any shot at figuring out the mystery behind Harry Peltier, or the disappearance of Peter Pettigrew, it was this man.
He spent his Sunday in the dungeons, not wanting to draw the attention of the Ministry's bloodhounds as long as they were here. Luckily for him, he'd taken the habit of leaving his more strange belongings as well as Hermione's bag in the secret dorms. They came in, searched the Slytherin dorms, searched every inch of the castle. But no Peter Pettigrew. By the time evening settled, their frustration was obvious.
Along with the night, came in his parents met by Dumbledore in front of the Great Hall, devastated at the news. His mother was a small twig of a woman, her screaming and crying giving the impression she might have broken in half at the news. Dumbledore took her wailing with grace, then James, Sirius and Remus came, giving comfort to her as much as themselves. She held on to her husband for dear life, the man in a haze of confusion. It was with empty promises and false hope they stumbled back to the night train.
Somehow, it seemed the war had claimed its first casualty close to home, and there wasn't even a body to bury. But to Harry the doubt extended further. What if he really was dead? Did Voldemort end him because he stepped out of line? And if he didn't, what would happen when he realized he went missing?
-sSsSsSsSs-
It's strange what happens after a loss, especially if that loss is not really a loss but a disappearance. That's what they were calling it, the 'disappearance' of Peter Pettigrew, even more than a week later. Harry thought he knew better, because he knew that in another time that's exactly what happened. Because Peter Pettigrew had been found out, because Sirius Black had confronted him and had been framed.
No one knew a thing, but every single unspoken word in the Great Hall said the same thing. Peter Pettigrew was dead. Which only begged the question: how, and who? He couldn't imagine. Riddle being this deep into Hogwarts that he could just kill at his leisure with Dumbledore watching was beyond improbable. Hogwarts had never fallen in his time, at least until the end.
He could see James and Sirius eating without appetite. Their match against Hufflepuff had been played and a close run thing in Gryffindor's favor, clearly James had been more than just out of sorts lately. Lily had told him they were still very much in denial, although that wasn't how she phrased it. For two days after they'd looked for clues where Aurors found nothing, of course, they had been unsuccessful. The four had met since and as much as Remus had fought him and Severus, he had accepted the same conclusion. Peter had been their contact, and now whatever line to Riddle they could have had, was lost.
Helena two tables over was sitting with the blonde who had passed along her message, chatting and eating. Her friend wasn't on the quidditch team, that much he knew, so the two must have known each other for a while. Yesterday she had joined the four of them in the courtyard and Lily had given him a questioning look when she mentioned they talked. But she came around. Apparently she had the talent, and had taken well to wandless casting. She also picked up on when she had to give them some privacy.
They had double potions this afternoon. Slughorn tried his best to be his usual chipper self, for the good of education, despite everything. Harry had to smile grimly at the lesson's task, brewing a draught of living death. Fortunately for him, he had spent the better part of a year with a certain potions manual in his possession. Glancing over at Severus, he saw the same not as worn book beside his cauldron. As they went to their task, he saw Severus raise an eyebrow at him, as they were following the exact same process.
Severus finished first. Remus was cursing at some mistake he made, while Lily was completely focused. Time came for Slughorn to appraise their results. He stopped to give Lana, a Gryffindor student a lecture on the importance of the 'attention to the process'.
He nodded at Regulus. "Quite decent quality, you will go far with this kind of perseverance."
When he arrived at Harry's cauldron he gave a surprised look. "My, I had no idea you had a gift for potions as well as defense. Marvelous work, Harry." Then he lingered. "Oh, keep an eye out for my owl over the next few days, I am putting something together to lift the spirits of our dear students." he said with a wink.
Lily too got a nice compliment and Severus got grand praise as usual. It wasn't until two days later he got Slughorn's letter.
-sSsSsSsSs-
Dear Harry Peltier,
In light of recent events, it has come to my attention that we might need a bit of levity and relaxation. It is thus with utmost pleasure that I invite you to the Slughorn Grand Easter Dinner Party. I've sent letters to many hopeful talents and invited a number of prominent wizards and witches. Every invitation comes with the option to bring a date. The event will take place on the 2nd of April at 6 PM.
With the hope of bringing joy and love in dark times,
Professor Horace Eugene Flaccus Slughorn
Harry stared at the letter for a while, then looked up. To his surprise a few seats over he saw Severus grinning at him, similar letter in hand. Melissa held up hers next to him. He scanned the other tables. Lily had a couple people hovering over her for the same reason, same for Helena. Three out of four, or five out of six depending on your perspective, not bad at all.
"Why do you always get to have all the fun?" Luci said.
"I'm pretty sure Slughorn only noticed me because of Lily."
"Of course." she said rolling her eyes.
"I once ignored one of his invitations in fourth year, he hasn't talked to me since outside of class." Nathan said with a cheeky smile.
"So who are you taking?" Regulus asked looking over his shoulder.
He folded up the letter with a frown. "Who do you think I'm taking?"
Reg shrugged. "Thought you might bring your other girlfriend for a change."
"Bloody hell, Reg. There is no other girlfriend, people will believe you if you keep saying that," he said trying to not get annoyed, "besides, she got a letter too, look." he said pointing at Helena.
"Oh, so you can bring a third one."
"Don't make me strangle you. Do you want to go that badly? If you wear a dress I'll consider it."
"Fine, I'll cool it."
He was not prepared for what would happen over the next few days. Every person who had received one of the invitations got swarmed with advances. While it was funny to see Severus' annoyance at having girls trail him like rats to the Pied Piper for the first day, he started to get worn down as well. Girls he had never even seen started to ambush him in the hallways for a chance at attending the party, despite the gossip about him dating Lily.
The breaking point for him was seeing Sirius threaten a gaggle of boys from different ages and sizes to stay away from his female friend. He messaged the others at once. Emergency meeting, tonight. 8:30.
-sSsSsSsSs-
"This can't go on like this, at this rate it will destroy us all." Harry said rubbing his forehead.
"Aren't we being a little dramatic?" Remus asked.
"Harry's right," Lily said with a grave look, "I don't want to become a murderer, but my hand is being forced. If I see one more dumb–" Her gaze grew furious as she drew a deep breath and Harry shuddered.
"If I see one more of them throw themselves at you, I'm going to go mental."
"I've managed to solve the problem." Severus said looking over his nails.
"How?" Lily said with purpose.
"I told them I already had a date."
"No," Harry said holding up a hand, "that didn't work, I already told them I'm going with Lily."
"Exactly." Severus said pointing a finger.
"What?"
"You each are a walking invitation, they won't accept it if you go with each other."
"Madness, this is!" Lily cried out.
"So what do we do?" Harry said with a sigh.
"I mean it's obvious isn't it?" Remus said.
"Invite someone else." Lily finished.
Harry put his head between his hands, a great feeling of loss coming over him. "I'll never live this down, Regulus is going to hold this over my head for decades."
"We have no choice," Lily said with a look of defeat, "wait." She stood up.
She rested arms crossed with a courageous look on her face, like she might go into battle. "Regulus and Lucinda."
"What about them?"
"We'll ask them both as dates, so we can end this. Once and for all."
"Lily, I– I–," he said trembling under her intimidation, "maybe it's not a great idea."
She stamped over and pointed a sharp-nailed finger at him. "Listen to me Harry and listen well, we are ending this. Today. I don't like it either but I'll be damned if I endure two more weeks of this."
"Okay, okay. I'll do it. Just please lower your finger."
"So Severus, do you really have a date?" Remus asked.
"Don't even try. I'm a natural occlumens."
As Harry entered the dungeons he made a beeline for Regulus who was talking to Filby. He looked over and greeted him with a casual "Hey Harry."
He took a deep breath and put a hand on Reg's shoulder. "I need you to go outside and talk to Lily. I'm sorry but this is the only way, and watch out for your eyes."
Leaving Reg in a daze, he waited over in the corner to see him walk the line. When he was on his way outside he went over to Luci who was talking to two of her seventh year female friends. They do move in herds. He felt suddenly self-conscious having the three look at him appraisingly, his hand moved reflexively to ruffle his hair.
"Lucinda, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure thing, Harry." Luci said, giving a wink to the two others. The giggling behind him as they found a more quiet corner made him shudder.
For a minute, his brain was missing and he just stood there gaping like a fish. Reciting the mantra of 'just sodding to it', words formed in his head. "All right, first, don't take this the wrong way. I need to ask you to Slughorn's Easter party."
Luci pondered something and made a show of inspecting her nails. "Go on."
"Can you just say yes? Reg is coming too."
She frowned. "What?"
"Look, both me and Lily are getting badgered because we got an invitation. She's asking Reg right now, and I'm supposed to ask you. You both come and everything turns out great. Right?"
"No thanks!" she said in a haughty tone.
"What? But you can't say no, I promised this would be dealt with today."
"Hmph!" she puffed. "You expect me to say yes to such a clumsy invitation?"
"Please?"
"No way. Either you ask me properly and promise to act like a gentleman or I won't accept."
"I just don't want to–"
"String me along? Please."
Why couldn't things just be easy? He held his arms up to his head as he considered his options. It's true he hadn't asked very nicely, and the prospect of facing Lily's wrath wasn't very appealing at all.
"Okay." he said with an exhalation, finding composure and the words to ask.
"Lucinda Talkalot, will you please be my date for Slughorn's party?"
"I'll accept." Harry relaxed. "On one condition." Harry tensed.
"Go ahead."
"I want you to keep me company, I don't want you to run off to your girlfriend the second we get there. So, what will it be, Harry Peltier?"
Harry nodded. "Fine, I'll keep you company."
"Wonderful. Dress smartly." she said, hopping back to the two girls. Harry collapsed into a nearby chair, almost missing it and falling on his backside. Between dark wizards and girls, he wasn't sure which would be the death of him.
-sSsSsSsSs-
"What do you mean a date?"
Harry had not really anticipated spending his Sunday breakfast at the end of the Gryffindor table, getting chewed out by his girlfriend no less. All he wanted is to finish his eggs and toast in peace.
"She wouldn't agree otherwise."
"And you said yes?"
"Lily, are you starting too? I have enough with Regulus joking about me being a womanizer without you giving it credit."
"What do you call it then? You're going to spend an entire evening–," she lowered her voice, "flirting with her and you expect me to say nothing?"
"First off, this was your idea, so own up to it." He said pointing at her with his fork. "Secondly, it's just a friend date, not a date date. You know I won't try anything."
"Yes, well." She seemed to be looking for words, pointing a finger at him in response. "I'll be watching you, and you better hope you don't try anything. Or… Or I'll flirt with Regulus!"
Harry erupted in chortles nearly choking himself. "Right."
Lily crossed her arms and did her best not to look at him.
"If you're finished, since it's Sunday. You want to hang out just the two of us?"
"Now why would I want to do that?" she asked.
"Because I love you very much?" he said extending an open hand.
Unable to keep up the facade of anger, she rolled her eyes with a smile and reluctantly took his hand. "Okay."
Spring was slowly working its way to the Isles and they could go take a walk without being bundled up in thick coats and scarves, but he still wore his loosely above a blue wool turtleneck. He liked it very much, and would twin colour it when it was just the two of them. They walked by the lake and he saw her eyes fill with glee at the sight of her gift.
It was a pleasure to see how easily they could go from silly argument back to their private selves. They found a tree and she leaned on it facing away from the castle. A few birds started to test the spring air fishing for insects in the glittering lake. Harry locked his foot between two roots and took her lips against his, hands lightly on her hips.
For a matter of minutes, who knows how many, an air of peace came over his life. Electricity filled his lungs and he felt lost in the earthen hue of her perfume, tasting cinnamon with flowery undertones. He pressed as close as he could, thinking that days like this should last forever, that days like this will last forever. Because they were going to fight, and they were going to win. Every other alternative seemed an affront to his time in this turbulent yet wonderful era.
When Lily disturbed that peace by animatedly slapping his shoulders he was a bit frazzled. She was excitedly giggling. "Look over there!" she whispered and spun him around to point in the distance.
It took some time for him to make out what she was talking about, but when he did he let out a smug laugh. "No freaking way."
"I know right?"
Out in the distance between two trees a ways away from the lake he could see two black haired figures sitting together, clearly trying to escape notice. There was no mistaking it. Severus and Helena were trying to get some Sunday morning alone time as well. Luckily they didn't seem just as passionate as the peeping couple yet.
"You know, if this got out, it would mean they'd get chased by admirers again."
"Let's just leave them be for now." Lily said kissing his neck. "I want to enjoy today a bit more."