Chapter 7
It has been two weeks since the last time Solis and Harry have spoken. And Solis can’t figure out why.
Whenever Solis sees him in the halls Harry is talking to his friends in low voices, and when he approaches them in the great hall the three stop talking all together, creating an awkward atmosphere, leading to Solis sitting at his house table. Casual check-ins to make sure Harry is eating has turned into Solis watching Harry from across the great hall during meals like a stalker.
Despite the loss of communication, Solis is glad that Harry is finally making friends and being himself. The two boys may have lived together their whole lives and have gone through similar experiences but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they consider each other a friend. It is more of a “partners-in-survival” type of relationship. They know that aside from the Dursleys' and being orphans they have basically nothing in common with each other, and in another universe if they crossed paths, they probably wouldn’t give the other a second glance.
While Harry was with his friends, Solis was spending time with his own. Tamsin Applebee. The quiet Hufflepuff witchling and him have taken to hiding out in the Astronomy tower since Slytherin doesn’t let other houses into their space and Hufflepuff is weary about letting a Slytherin into their common room. So during Charms class they pass notes to each other, agreeing to meet up in the tower, and then spend their time together reading, discussing what they read, or studying and helping each other with homework. Though it is mainly Solis helping Tamsin study while he reads and memorizes the class textbooks.
Solis also spends a good deal of his time ignoring Draco and the other two. Ever since the revenge incident the three have been hounding Solis for his spell books, too scared to take them themselves because of the stone statue incident.
Life goes by fast. Classes, food, memorization, Tamsin, Draco, sleep. The start of Winter has Solis bored and finding loopholes in the dress code to keep warm to the point where he has started wearing a hoodie under his button up shirt and tie. The eleven year old has found joy in Snape’s exasperated expressions. Solis especially enjoyed the looks of all his professors and schoolmates when he wore leggings and a skirt with the excuse of testing out a thermal spell and the technicality of still being in uniform.
Harry smacked him over the head for that one.
Tamsin thought it was hilarious and got pictures of all of the teachers' reactions when they saw Solis’ outfit and heard his excuse. She’s starting a scrapbook.
More day's pass, and then Christmas break begins.
Harry and Solis agree to stay at Hogwarts for… obvious reasons. On the last day of school, when all the kids are packing up and leaving for break, Solis finally finds Harry not talking “super-secret-stuff” in hush-hush voices with Ron and Hermione. Harry and Ron are playing wizards chess, Solis has seen it being played in the common room (though Slytherins tend to be more, let's say competitive with it).
Plopping down next to the brunette, Solis watches as Ron adds a broken knight piece to a growing pile of broken white pieces. Comparing the 6 or 7 broken white pieces to the single broken red one next to the chess board, the ebony haired boy deadpans, “Harry, I know we didn’t learn many games growing up but this is kinda sad.”
“Shut up!” Harry grumbles.
Ron puffs his chest a little at the round-about compliment.
“Anyway,” Solis puts his elbow on the table and lays his head in his palm. “Wesley, you’re not going home for the holidays? What about the other one? Granger?”
Deflating, Ron meets Solis’s silver eyes with a glare. “It is Weasley. And no, my parents are going to see my brother, Charlie, in Romania. Hermione has already left. Though not before giving us bloody homework to-”
The ginger stops speaking suddenly with eyes widened and throws a hand over his mouth like he just spilled a secret.
Looking back and forth between the two boys curiously, Solis asks, “What homework?”
It is silent as Ron and Harry have a conversation with their eyes. Though it seems to be more like an argument if Solis goes by Weasley’s sighs and eyerolls and Harry’s eyebrow raises. The silence breaks when Ron crosses his arm defeatedly and mutters fine. Taking the agreement Harry turns to the one sitting next to him and meets his gaze.
“Uhm, what do you know about Nicholas Flamel?”
Narrowing his eyes Solis looks both boy up and down as he takes a moment to consider answering. And then he remembers the Slytherin Christmas party the night before and the headache he had this morning.
‘A little compensation won't hurt.’ Relaxing his muscles, Solis conveys his thoughts with his eyes as he meets Harry’s stare head on. “Something.”
Ron sits up in surprise at Solis’s answer, expecting him to continue. Harry, picking up what Solis is putting down, tries to think of anything Solis could possibly want in exchange. Money would be the obvious answer, but considering the kid has access to the wealth of one of the richest families in the wizarding world, it is highly unlikely. Being his personal servants would also be an option if Solis didn’t hex anyone who touched his things. And the Slytherin boy would never put his homework in the hands of two people who can’t even make it to class on time.
Coming up empty Harry sighs and turns his gaze away from Solis. “Fine. What do you want?”
Solis smiles, clasping his hands together and places them on the table. “It’s a long story but a simple request.” Making sure the two are listening he begins the story. “The only thing Slytherins enjoy more than team spirit is winning and parties. Which leads to a lot of gambling and free booze. And after a nasty incident many years ago, they developed this game involving floaters.”
“Hang on. What is a floater?”
Ron answers Harry’s question. “It’s a potion that gives off the effects of alcohol so you can get drunk without actually drinking.”
Harry and Solis give Ron suspicious looks, Solis with a brow raised, as he answered the question a little too quickly.
Catching on, Weasley rushes out an explanation. “I-I only know cause Fred and George got two months detention for making some last year! Mom even sent them a dozen howlers!”
“Uh-huh,” Solis agrees half-heartedly before continuing his story. “Anyway, the weeks leading up to the Christmas party the older years get to know the first years and place bets on what type of drunk each first year is. They get half credit for betting if the person is also a heavy weight or light weight.”
Interrupting again Harry takes a guess as to what Solis wants. “So, do you want us to go to the party too and make sure you don’t drink any floaters?”
Huffing at another interruption, Solis side-eyes the brunette. “Considering the party was last night, no. Now interrupt again and I’ll turn your glasses into crows. What I was getting at is that a few of the Slytherins have loose lips when drunk and let it slip that I have… admirers sending me Christmas presents. A few questions later and I found that a few of the boxes are gag gifts rigged to explode or put a hex on me. In exchange for what I know, you two have to open every gift I get. I’ll even let you keep most of the real ones.”
Ron and Harry gape at him; their chess game long forgotten. Ron recovers and processes the request quicker than his glasses wearing friend, which is understandable. Harry may have known Solis their whole lives and be used to his petty pranks and revenge, but being involved in underage drinking games and getting hate mail is a new low Potter never thought Solis would even consider crossing.
Coming back to himself Harry hears his friend actually considering the Slytherin’s offer and confirming the deal.
“We seriously can keep the stuff?”
A nod.
“How many fake presents?”
“Five or six.”
“And you actually know something about Nicholas Flamel? You’re not lying?”
“I’ll give you five galleons if my knowledge turns out to be false.”
A suspicious, deadpan stare.
“Fine. I swear on my pride or whatever. So, is there a deal or am I rerouting all of my gifts to the Dursleys’?”
Ron answers yes immediately. Harry hesitates before answering the same, not wanting Ron to suffer through hexed hate mail alone and also not wanting to spend hours upon hours reading every book in the library.
Satisfied with their decision, Black pulls out a notebook from his sweatpants and rips a blank page from it. Grabbing a pencil from his pocket he writes two book titles and their authors on the page, before pulling his wand from his hair - causing his bun to come undone and his hair to fall around his face - and with a wave of his wand words appear on the paper. Sliding the paper across the table, Solis puts his notebook and pencil back in his sweatpants pocket and stands up.
“Here, the paper is spelled so don’t lose it. It’ll tell you exactly where these two books are even if they are being carried through the Dark Forest. Be in the dungeons when you have finished with your Christmas stuff.”
Harry grabs the paper and looks it over as Solis walks away. He passes it to Ron, looking around for the Slytherin who just performed a fifth year spell without speaking a word.
“Do you think it’s real?” Ron looks at the paper with suspicion. He might be excited at the possibility of getting free stuff, but he has also never hidden his opinion about Slytherins.
“Yeah. Solis only lies when it benefits him, or he’s bored.”
Harry spots the boy in question sitting at another table down the hall eating a sandwich while some girl braids his hair.
He has seen the same girl hanging around Solis for a while. She is a Hufflepuff, supposedly a kind and loyal house. But for some reason whenever Harry sees her with Solis, he gets a bad feeling.
Ignoring the bothersome feeling in his chest, Harry turns forward and stares at the chessboard in front of him. “So… uh, whose turn is it?”