Professor Potter-Black
Thursday, 12 November 1998
“Harry, love,” Theo started as they walked out of the Ancient Runes classroom, “would you be willing to bring some of us down to the Chamber so we can work on the Patronus charm?”
“Course,” Harry said with a bright smile, “I’ll go get Teddy from Mimi and meet whoever down at the main dungeon entrance, do you remember where it is?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you there,” Theo responded, pressing a quick kiss to Harry’s cheek before turning around to collect his friends.
Harry asked the castle for a shortcut to the Tower and had Teddy in hand, bundled up in a thick sweater against the persistent chill of the main Chamber, and was headed down to the dungeon entrance within 10 minutes.
“You understand how annoying it is that you beat everyone everywhere no matter where anyone is in the castle, right?” Draco asked as he approached with Theo, Blaise, Pansy, Greg, Daphne, and Astoria.
“Are you lot allergic to other houses?” Harry asked with a light laugh as he observed the crowd of Slytherins gathered around him.
“Yes,” Pansy answered in a faux-haughty voice, “I’ll break out in hives if I so much as see a red and gold tie.”
“You’re the worst, Parkinson,” Harry said, huffing a laugh through his nose, “let’s go.”
They followed Harry though the opening in the wall, through the potions lab, and into the main Chamber where Harry pulled a foldable playpen out of his expanded book bag and set it up for Teddy.
“I really can’t get over how that ridiculous statue looks nothing like Slytherin,” Theo said, gesturing toward the massive bust at the end of the room.
“It looks more like Poseidon,” Harry said, laughing as he threw a couple of warming charms at the ground around Teddy.
“Please tell me you’re talking about statutes you’ve seen of the Sea God and not the actual man,” Draco said, his voice edging on a whine, though he kept his volume down so only Harry and Theo could hear him.
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” Harry said with a wink. Draco let out a long-suffering sigh and made his best puppy dog eyes at Harry. “That’s not going to work on me, cousin dearest.”
Then Theo pouted and Harry folded immediately, “I have not met Poseidon,” Harry said quietly, “but we have a mutual friend who’s pointed out what statues are the most accurate.”
“Thanks, love,” Theo said with a grin.
Harry huffed and turned back to the group, “alright, have any of you made any progress?”
“Mine started to take a shape,” Astoria said, “but it hasn’t fully formed.”
“Great,” Harry said, grinning at her, “did you notice anything specific about it?”
“Uh,” she hesitated, eyes darting around the room, “well it had wings.”
Harry barely held in his reaction and simply nodded, “cool, well like with me and Neville, your Patronus doesn’t always take the form of your animagus.”
“Yours didn’t change?” Draco asked, entirely oblivious to the implications of what Astoria had just said, “mine hasn’t taken a form yet but I honestly just expected it’d be a snowy owl.”
“Have I mentioned recently how funny I find it that you turned into my owl?” Harry said with a smirk.
“You have, actually, and I’m not sure how many more times you can mention it before I hit you,” Draco responded.
“I’m going to repeat Draco’s question before you two get into a physical brawl,” Blaise cut in, “is your Patronus still a stag or did it change once you mastered your form?”
“Still Prongs,” Harry responded, dropping his wand into his palm and conjuring the glowing stag.
“And Neville’s is still a lion?” Pansy asked.
“As far as I know,” Harry responded with a shrug.
“Susan’s is a badger, Neville’s is a lion, but you and Luna don’t have your House sigils?” she asked.
“To be honest,” Harry responded, “I don’t think Neville and Susan’s are a lion and a badger because they’re Lord Gryffindor and Lady Hufflepuff. Susan’s aunt’s form was a badger, and she was her protector her entire life so that seems like a closer link than the House of Hufflepuff and we know from Kingsley that Neville’s dad’s Patronus was a lion so same logic.”
“What’s Luna’s again?” Daphne asked.
“A hare,” Harry responded, “same as her mum, actually.”
“Are the forms, like, genetic?” Pansy wondered.
“Not necessarily,” Harry said, mulling the question over, “I think it has more to do with who you view as your protector and maybe something with who’s in the happy memory you use when you first conjure it. I think a lot of people view themselves as their greatest protector which is why so many Patronus and animagus forms match up but sometimes that’s not the case. With me, my greatest protection was always the protection my mum gave me when she died which she was able to do because my dad protected her. Dad was a stag, mum was a doe, so I end up with the stag even though that’s not my animal. Though, if I were to be completely honest with myself, I might’ve been a stag if not for my connection with Death which makes the Grim make more sense. That’s beside the point,” Harry interrupted himself with a shake of his head, “Luna watched her mum die when she was 9 but Pandora somehow protected Luna in that moment, they both could’ve died but Luna was safe, so her mum is her greatest protector. You see my logic?”
“What about the theory that soulmates have matching forms?” Astoria asked, her voice slightly shy.
“I think it holds some weight,” Harry said, smiling softly at her, “both of my dads Patroni were stags and my mum’s was a doe, Tonks’ form changed from a jackrabbit to a wolf after she met Remus. I could feel a change in Prongs after 5th year when Neville and I fully recognized each other as brothers after we found out about the Prophecy. I didn’t totally understand what that change was until Neville turned into a stag a month ago. But I know he’s not just my parents anymore, but my brother as well. I think love is a great way to conjure up overwhelming joy so, long story short, yes, I think that theory has some credence.”
“Well, that explains this,” Theo said, pulling his wand out of his pocket and conjuring up a giant, glowing Grim. Not just any Grim though, the identifying markings were clear; the shock of lighter colored fur across the animal’s forehead and chest and even in its monochromatic appearance you could somehow tell its eyes were bright green.
“Huh,” Harry said, staring at the perfect representation of his animagus form, “well,” he said clearing his throat and looking up at Theo, “I thought you said you needed help getting the charm?”
Theo rolled his eyes and smiled at Harry, knowing from the look in his eyes that the fact Harry was his Patronus meant far more to him than he was openly letting on, “I didn’t say that I needed help, just that some people did, I’ll hang out with Teddy while you teach Professor Potter-Black.”
As Theo walked past Harry to get to where Teddy was set up, Harry smiled softly and reached out to quickly squeeze his hand three times.
“Love you too,” Theo whispered back before turning his attention toward Teddy, “how’s my cub?,” he said in his normal tone, “are we gonna hang out while Da teaches?”
Teddy simply babbled in response and smushed Theo’s cheeks between his tiny hands.
Harry smiled fondly at the pair and turned back to the rest of the group, “okay, back to the point, who wants to try first?”
“Merlin you two are sickening,” Draco said with an exaggerated shudder, “I’ll try.”
Draco pulled his wand out of his pocket and cast, a moment later, a fully formed black cat was wandering around his feet, “huh,” he said, cocking his head slightly and looking up at Harry, “wonder what that’s about.”
“Oh my god,” Harry said, enunciating every syllable, “you cannot be that dense! I know you’re an idiot, I know that, I promise, but this is beyond the pale.”
“What do you mean?” Draco asked, more befuddled than offended.
“Someone help,” Harry said, “I can’t do this. I told Susan I’d hit him over the head with something dense soon but I’m beyond that. If you lot want him to understand without being physically harmed, you need to step in now.”
“Astoria just transform,” Daphne said, trying her hardest not to laugh at Harry’s outburst.
Astoria looked from her sister to Draco to Harry who held up his hands in a pleading motion and with a slight grin she transformed into an identical black cat.
“Wait, what?” Draco said, looking between Astoria and his Patronus, “really?”
“Really!” Daphne and Harry all but shouted.
“And she said her Patronus had wings…” Draco said, eyes lighting up in realization.
“You two can leave now,” Harry said, pointing toward the door, “I still might hit you for being this stupid, I haven’t decided yet.”
“Heard,” Draco said with a nod, reaching his hand out toward the cat who quickly transformed back into a brightly smiling Astoria.
Blaise wolf-whistled and Pansy cheered as they made their way out of the room.
“Fucking finally,” Harry sighed, as he turned back to Daphne, Greg, Pansy, and Blaise, “do you think you four have normal forms or is it going to get weird again?”
“Normal,” Greg said, “I know that mine’s a bear, it fully formed, I’m just having trouble keeping it around, it fizzles out after a few seconds.”
“I can work with that,” Harry said with a smile, “how about the rest of you?”
“Same problem,” Blaise said.
“Can’t get mine past the shield,” Pansy added.
“I just wanted to see what would happen when one of them saw the other’s forms,” Daphne said, gesturing toward the door where Draco and her sister had just exited before heading over to sit with Theo and Teddy, “I’ll just hang out here.”
“Sounds good,” Harry said with an amused shake of his head, before turning back to the remaining three, “let’s get started.”
* * *
Neville was laying on his couch reading when he heard a knock at his door, knowing it could only be Susan, Luna, or Theo (since Harry would’ve just walked right in), he waved his hand to unlock the door and called, “come in!”
“Hey, Nev,” Theo greeted, stepping into the living room and closing the door behind him, “do you still have the parchment with Harry’s paw print?”
“I do,” Neville said, “what are you planning to do with it?”
“Lighting it on fire,” Theo said, rolling his eyes, “I want to get it tattooed, do you think I could get a smaller one for Teddy as well or do you think he’d find that odd? I keep forgetting we’ve only been together a couple of months and it’s not like Teddy is really-”
Neville cut off his rambling saying, “he’d absolutely melt, Theo, you know how much he loves you and how happy it makes him that you love Teddy, and I also know that when Harry loves he loves for life, and I get the same vibe from you, so I really don’t foresee you two breaking up.”
“I’d marry him tomorrow if he’d let me,” Theo responded, entirely serious.
“Let’s maybe hold off on that,” Neville said with a laugh, “I think a tattoo is good for now.”
Theo shrugged and said, “would you go with me? I want to get this one first, before we get the Marauders ones this weekend.”
“Of course,” Neville said, obviously touched that Theo saw him as a trusted friend, not just as Harry’s brother, “let’s go.”
* * *
When Neville and Theo got back, they found a small crowd in Harry’s living room.
“Should we maybe move this to the Tower sitting room?” Neville called over the din of music and chatter.
“Nev!” Harry called back, smile obvious in his voice, “where you been mate?”
“I was with your boyfriend,” Neville called back, “but, I repeat, should we take this downstairs, your living room is rather crowded.”
He wasn’t wrong. Scattered around Harry’s living room were Susan, Hannah, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Seamus, Dean, Justin, Parvati, Lavender, Padma, Luna, and someone who Neville decided must be Rolf Scamander.
“Also, where’s Teddy?” Theo asked, looking around the crowded room.
“Right here,” Ginny said, turning slightly to show Theo the happy kid settled on her lap, “you want to hold him?”
“You can keep him for now, Weasley,” Theo said with a light laugh, “just don’t even think about stealing him.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Ginny said, holding up her hands in mock surrender.
Harry looked around the room as if he was just realizing how crowded it was. He looked over at Susan and Luna who were sitting at his dining room table, “why didn’t we think about going downstairs?”
“Because no matter what anyone thinks about me, Neville is actually the brains of this operation?” Susan responded, coming to the same realization as Harry.
“I just thought it was cozy,” Luna said with a shrug as she stood up to head out the door, “downstairs is cozy too, though.”
Harry glanced at his watch and called for Bobbin, the Head Hogwarts Elf. When he appeared, Harry smiled and asked, “after you all serve dinner in the Great Hall, would you mind sending dinner for 20 people to the sitting room downstairs?”
“I’ll do it now,” Bobbin responded, snapping his fingers and grinning up at Harry, “will that be all.”
Harry grinned back and patted the elf on the shoulder, “no, thank you, Bobbin. That’s all. Have a good night!”
“Yous too, Lord Slytherin,” the elf responded, bowing his head slightly before popping away.
“Move out,” Harry said, waving toward the door, “dinner’s served.”
Everyone hustled down the stairs and took seats around the large common room at the base of Founders’ Tower.
Theo took a seat next to Harry and greeted him with a quick kiss on the cheek, “hello, love.”
“Hello,” Harry responded with a soft smile, “where were you two?”
“Out,” Theo responded, “I’ll show you later.”
Harry looked at Theo, studying his face closely, “you got a tattoo.”
“How’d you do that?” Theo asked, a little awestruck.
“Lucky guess,” Harry said with a shrug.
“Liar.”
“You’re right,” Harry said with a slight smile before dropping his voice to a whisper, “the more I practice with Death the better I get at sensing injuries and, technically, a fresh, unhealed tattoo is an injury. It was either that or you’d recently been stabbed in the chest, so I went with the more likely and less frightening option.”
“Wait how have you been practicing?” Theo asked.
“I let Pomfrey in on about 60% of the secret before Samhain because I didn’t know how much the ritual was going to drain me, and I didn’t want her to lose her mind trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with me and since then she’s been letting me heal minor injuries in the hospital wing and telling students that I’m just shadowing her.”
“Huh,” Theo said, “that’s neat.”
“Thanks,” Harry said with a light laugh as he turned back to the room. “Gin,” he called, “do you want to feed Ted or do you want me to?”
“I got it,” Ginny responded, calling for Mimi to get Teddy’s bottle, “I’m keeping him as long as you’ll let me.”
“You have to give him back some time,” Harry said with a laugh, “but you can have him for the time being.”
After everyone had eaten, Harry walked over to peel Teddy away from Ginny to take him upstairs and get him put to bed.
Theo followed close behind.
“You don’t have to come, Theo,” Harry said, smiling over his shoulder, “I can do it alone tonight if you want to stick around downstairs.”
“I want to be with you two,” Theo responded earnestly, “we can both go back downstairs once he’s asleep. Mimi hasn’t watched him at night recently and I’m sure she misses him.”
“You’re right,” Harry said, holding out the hand that wasn’t holding Teddy toward Theo, “come on.”
“Also,” Theo said as he stepped up to walk next to Harry, “I want to show you my tattoo.”
“What’d you get?” Harry asked.
“I’ll show you in a minute,” Theo responded with a laugh, opening the door to Harry’s quarters.
For the full half hour it took them to get Teddy bathed, dressed in pajamas, and laying down in his crib, Harry asked Theo what his tattoo was at least once every other minute.
“Merlin,” Theo said, laughing as he closed Teddy’s bedroom door behind him, “you have no patience.”
“I never claimed I did,” Harry said, almost bouncing on his toes, “show me, show me, show me.”
“Fine,” Theo responded, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to Harry’s lips before he started unbuttoning his shirt, “I sort-of copied you.”
“Really?” Harry asked, going still and looking right at Theo, eyes alight with something tender.
“Really,” Theo responded, pulling his shirt to the side to reveal the two pawprints inked onto the left side of his chest, “my Grim and his pup.”
“I love you,” Harry said, cupping Theo’s cheeks in his hands and pressing a lingering kiss to his lips before pulling back and resting their foreheads together, “so, so much.”
“I love you too,” Theo responded, darting forward to give Harry another quick kiss, “do you want to go back downstairs?”
“Not even a little,” Harry said, pulling Theo through the door into their bedroom.
“Thought so,” Theo said with a self-satisfied smirk.
“Prat.”