Never Forget
Saturday passed mostly on the Pitch, where Tony wandered out to sometime before lunch to watch as he kept Hermione company in the stands.
Sunday was quiet and Monday drew to a close before he knew it.
Sighing, Harry got up Tuesday morning with everyone else.
Two weeks into the new year and he was already tired.
Hermione yawned as she met them at the portrait. “Good Morning.”
“I don’t think I’m supposed to be this tired,” Ron frowned.
“I’m feeling exhausted, too,” she tilted her head with a lighter frown.
Harry sighed and shook his head. “You don’t think that energy drain is back, do you?”
All last year, they’d been at the mercy of this odd drain that Tony’s friend, co-worker and other NCIS Magical Jimmy Palmer swore had been worry for Tony. And if that was the case, they were then presented with a problem.
If Tony was safe and sound and under the same roof, they didn’t need to worry, right? So, why would the drain have come back?
“It’s hard to tell,” Hermione lifted a shoulder. “Maybe it also has something to do with Sherlock? I mean… it can’t be Tony this time… Maybe he’s being affected, too.”
“And don’t forget,” Ron added. “Hermione, you’re still underage until Friday, right? Maybe it’s something like that.”
It was also a good point, considering the strange things that Harry had experienced on his last night at his Aunt’s house and the things Tony swore he saw and witnessed before the wedding. They would have to ask if maybe the energy drain was an effect of that ‘feedback loop’ this time. Harry wasn’t sure if the phenomenon could have started last year, too, but Palmer had been confident about the worry for Tony and Harry figured it didn’t have to be related to the same origin.
There was no one better than Tony to ask, so they headed down to breakfast.
It wasn’t like Harry minded the drain, anymore, really. Especially since Tony was down the hall somewhere in the Teachers Quarters and they could probably find him in his office. Besides, there was a different cause for it this time, but he really thought they would be over it by now, regardless of origin. If there wasn’t some kind of requirement that energy drains only needed to happen once for every crisis, there should be.
They joined a few of the others trickling into breakfast, but paused at the door when they spied a familiar figure lurking at the entrance.
“Peter? What are you doing here?” Hermione beamed at the older Wizard.
Peter Burke was Tony’s cousin – technically theirs, as well – and they really only met him before the wedding at the Burrow. Hermione had asked him there because she, Harry and Ron had wanted someone from Tony’s family to know about the marriage bond and he’d told them that they only needed to come to him for any help they needed. All things considered, he’d taken the news rather well.
Then he discovered that Harry was under Blood Protection and revealed that the wards around his Aunt’s house were no longer valid. Ever since, he, Tony and the Trio had been brainstorming ways to keep Harry from the Order’s plan of returning him to a now useless house before Auror training. Tony’s way of making sure no one knew about the four of them had made it double sure that no one would be able to tell about the wards going down – something none of them had realized happening at the time.
Their cousin shrugged slightly. “Well, ever since I found out from Palmer, who found out from Deeks, that Tony was actually teaching, I had to see for myself.”
“It’s good to see you, mate,” Ron shook his hand.
“And you. Actually, you’ll be seeing me in class tomorrow, too.”
“Is everything alright?” Harry took a closer look at the older man. Brown eyes had a dimmed sparkle that he never saw before and Peter also looked kind of haunted.
“Tony thought I could stick around for a couple days and I didn’t see the harm in it. Tell the truth, I need the break. I’ve been looking at back to back cases and my head’s starting to spin. While I agree that Tony has the harder Muggle job of the two of us, at least he has clues to follow.”
Harry wasn’t sure that was all he was there for, but was glad to see him anyway. “So, you’re going to be helping Tony teach?”
“Well, not so much ‘teach’ as ‘learn’,” he suddenly smiled, his brown eyes getting just a little bit brighter. “I probably should’ve been in Booker’s House since I left most of Defense to Tony. To be honest, he took to it better than I ever did and probably needs to know more about it than I do considering his job and all.”
“Is he eating now?” Ron asked.
“Actually, I think he’s still trying to get out of bed,” he chuckled. “He swears up and down that he didn’t do anything except go to a meeting.”
Harry exchanged relieved looks with his friends. It was good to know that Tony was being affected by it, too. For all they knew, maybe it was something about either Sherlock or Hermione.
“Maybe we should go ahead and eat,” Hermione suggested. “Tony can catch up later.”
Peter trailed after them and sat at their table. “I know I’m an adult and can sit up at the Staff Table, but I don’t think I can call myself a teacher with a straight face,” he told them as he settled down on the bench across the table and next to Hermione.
“Mr. Burke?” Neville looked up with a smile.
“Neville, wasn’t it? And there’s Ginny,” he waved, spying the youngest Weasley further down the table.
“Is it true that some teachers ate with students at the Institute?” Harry questioned.
“Yeah, occasionally. I remember this one time in my Second Year, when some of the teachers got into this big argument. Pin’s father made them all sit with us because none of them could be trusted not to poison the others. It lasted almost two months, if I recall correctly.”
Some of the others were curious about their visitor and were interested when they learned of his relationship with Tony.
The man himself stumbled in twenty minutes before breakfast ended.
“How long was that meeting?” Ron frowned at him.
“Couldn’t have been more than an hour,” he shook his head, trying to force himself to focus. “I don’t know, my head’s fuzzy.”
“Do you remember last year?” Harry asked. “We told you about what we were going through.”
“Oh, yeah. The energy drain, right?”
“Ron thinks it’s because Hermione’s birthday is on Friday.”
“That could be,” Tony rubbed his eyes. “It could also be emotional fallout from the funeral and everything.”
“I heard about that,” Peter winced. “How are you?”
“Well,” Tony stuffed some toast in his mouth. “It still hurts, but I can’t imagine that you are all that stable right now, either.”
“Yeah,” Peter sighed. “Thanks for dragging me out of the city, by the way. Elle’s gone on vacation or she would’ve come, too.”
“Yeah, well, it was my turn,” he shrugged. “You two went off last year. We agreed to take turns ever year with who got you.”
“And I can’t begin to explain how grateful I am,” he squeezed his cousin’s arm.
Harry knew they were missing something, but he didn’t know Peter well enough to pry.
The five eventually went their separate ways and Tuesday rolled on.
At lunch, Peter joined them again and joined the Quidditch conversation with enthusiasm. Hermione kept an ear on them while reading her book and some Ravenclaws wandered over to listen or join the discussion.
Harry was just focusing on eating when he noticed a familiar Ravenclaw hovering nearby. “Hello,” he told her.
“Hi!” she held a hand out. “Uh, you might not remember me, but I’m Reilly Walters,” they shook hands. “I met you in the library last year.”
“Oh, that’s right,” he nodded. “Now I remember.”
She’d been in Third Year at the time and he remembered the help she willingly gave with gathering information about those ‘accidents’ last year.
“How’ve you been?” he asked politely.
“Doing fine. I haven’t heard of any accidents lately, so I think they’ve stopped.”
That’s right, they never told her what happened.
“I think we’re done with ‘accidents’ this year,” Harry told her. “It’s kind of a long story, but they weren’t exactly accidents as we thought.”
“I figured that, too, since I’ve heard you and Ron were mostly the targets.”
“Yeah. So, thanks for that help, by the way.”
“Oh, not a problem! You’ll let me know if you need any more help, right?”
“You’ll be the first I talk to,” he promised.
Ron noticed the Ravenclaw and waved, catching Peter’s attention.
“And who’s this?” he wanted to know, reaching out for his own handshake.
“Radar!” Tony’s voice carried over and they all looked up to see him come to a stop next to Harry. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Flitwick wanted me to send you to him in his office.”
“Oh,” she straightened. “Okay, Professor. I’ll go now. See everyone later,” she waved.
“‘Radar’?” Hermione frowned up at him as the girl wandered off.
“Yup,” he grinned. “Her name’s Reilly Olivia Walters, ergo: Radar.”
“He started calling her that our first day of class,” one of the other Fourth Years explained. “None of us know why, but I think it’s starting to stick.”
“Yeah,” one of his Hufflepuff classmates agreed. “None of us could remember her name, anyway. ‘Radar’ is much easier.”
Harry looked over at Peter, who seemed highly amused by the entire thing. “Do you know what he’s on about?”
“Oh, do I!” he finally gave up and laughed. “Only you, Tony,” he shook his head. “I know it was bound to happen eventually.”
“Of course,” his cousin grinned back, green eyes sparkling. “To be honest, it really did just slip out.”
None of them could see what was so funny, so Harry just waved it off as one of those American things they didn’t have a hope of understanding.
* **
Waking up Wednesday morning was something of a shock to the entire school.
Instead of being greeted with the almost cheery colors of their House, the Gryffindors woke to find black threading through the red and gold. In the Common Room, at least one tapestry had been replaced with an American flag that hung in its stead.
“What’s happened?” Ron blinked as Harry and Hermione came down the stairs.
“I’m not sure,” the latter answered with a frown on her face. “I’ve never heard anything about this.”
At breakfast, the flags hanging over each Table had only the House Crests in a sea of black and Harry was uncomfortably reminded of the time Cedric Diggory died in Fourth Year.
None of the teachers were present and didn’t show up even as the students filed off to class.
Hagrid sent them all to a Practical review and stayed in the corner, knitting and sniffing wetly, refusing to answer when the Trio asked what was wrong.
Lunch was even quieter, an almost tangible aura of sadness fulling the school and affecting all her students.
This time, however, only Tony, Peter and Dumbledore were not present at the Staff Table. Those who were, however, wore black and even Snape wore a pin with American colors on it.
The Trio and their friends couldn’t help exchanging looks of alarm and concern, because whatever was going on was serious.
It was going on one o’clock when they started to get answers they probably weren’t expecting.
Harry was finishing off some biscuits when Dumbledore finally appeared and the Hall quieted as he approached the podium in complete silence.
“Good Afternoon,” he greeted, the usual sparkle in his blue eyes dimmed to go along with his all black ensemble. “I know all of you are wondering about many things, as you have all morning. You may take note of Professor DiNozzo’s absence along with that of his guest, but not to worry. They are taking their meals in the kitchens and will still be teaching this afternoon.
“While you may wonder at the changes that this day has wrought on our fair school, it is my regret to inform many of you that today is not a happy day in America. It is a day of reflection amidst memories best left in the past. Because our dear Professor DiNozzo is, in fact, American I wanted to show our solidarity with our Magic friends from across the Atlantic on their day of mourning. For you see, while we have our own tragedies, those in America who remember this day well fare far worse than we believe ourselves to be.
“On this day, many short years ago, America withstood a series attacks on their soil. It was an attack that even affects us, because America is not only our Ally, but those in the attack were both Magic and Muggle. It left many in a state of shock that they are still struggling to overcome and of those Witches and Wizards who did not survive, their former schools mourned them – yet not as much as the Norman Creswell Institute for Sorcery. They lost more Alumni than any other with eight former students, two from each House. It is they who mourn their eight and it is they who have asked us to take part in their yearly tradition.
“While the attacks took the lives of many and shattered the innocence of several thousand more, it is the process of healing that we have been asked to assist with. In each Common Room, there is an American flag. The staff and myself have also placed a piece of parchment next to that flag and we ask that you take a moment to sign it so that those at Creswell know that they are not alone today. They will be placed in their Hall of Memory, built and dedicated to our Magical brothers and sisters who lost their lives on that day from all the schools in America, among the flags from the ten other schools around the world who have been asked to participate. The Hall of Memory is more than ready for our contribution and there will be many more flags placed within it. As Creswell’s students walk among them, they will see that they have friends among us at Hogwarts and it is my hope that the knowledge will ease the crippling ache in their hearts for at least a moment’s time.”
He let them talk amongst themselves, Hermione’s gasp making Harry’s head whip around.
“What?” Ron demanded to know.
“Oh, Merlin. I remember reading about it in the paper,” she swallowed. “We were in First Year, remember? Before we became friends, I mean.”
“I remember that, too,” Ginny spoke from her other side. “I overheard Mum and Dad talking about it. It was horrible. Thousands of people died after a group of really bad Muggles took over some of America’s aeroplanes and smashed them into buildings.”
“Where?” Harry demanded.
“New Yo- Doesn’t Peter live in New York?!”
“I think he does,” Hermione blanched.
“Where in New York?”
“I – I don’t remember.”
Harry could hear others around him in their own conversations, younger students imparting what little they knew or remembered to the groups they sat with, and wasn’t sure if he was still going to eat the rest of his desserts. His stomach was mixing at the thought that Peter could’ve been in such a horrible situation like that.
Dumbledore called for silence and asked that they give a moment of silence to think about those that had been caught up in the attacks and Harry couldn’t be sure if all his American friends had been somewhere safe during the whole thing.
Peter and ‘Fred’ Stevens and Agent Donners and Susie from the Cup o’ Joe diner in America/ flower stall in Diagon Alley and Palmer, Mac, Deeks – even Deeks’ friend Callen. Where had Tony been during the attacks? Harry hadn’t met him until Third Year, a long time later, and it made him swallow hard to think his oldest best friend had been in that kind of danger even before Harry had met him.
Eventually, they were released to class and Harry found himself and his friends in the Common Room to pass their break before Tony’s class.
The flag attached to the wall was already half full, the parchment in front of it wiped clean after every message written and transferred to the flag itself. Harry could see some sort of thin protection between the words and the flag, probably to keep the flag from actually being written on.
“What are we going to write?” Hermione quietly asked.
Harry thought about it long and hard before holding a hand out for the quill. He gave a slight hesitation before scribbling, “The Trio and Marauders of Hogwarts would like to extend their condolences to the Detectives of Norman Creswell and their fellows on this solemn day of remembrance.”
“That’s brilliant!” Ron beamed, reaching over to take the quill and adding, “Except Wormtail because he’s a lying git.”
Even Hermione had to giggle at it, adding her own to finish, “Keep smiling and don’t forget to say ‘Mischief Managed’ to wipe it clean. It’s a secret.”
They watched the message disappear and Harry spied it a moment later, dead center in the middle of the flag.
“There it is,” he pointed it out.
“Hey,” Ron frowned. “Why’s there a magnifying glass above it?”
Harry and Hermione took a closer look and saw that he was right. The magnifying glass with the ‘D’ in the lens – like the one they saw in Tony’s MNP office – sat above their words
“How did that get there?” Hermione wondered.
“How did what get where?” Peter asked, smiling as the Trio turned in surprise. “I figured Tony could watch after himself and the First Years for a bit while I went to the kitchens. I seem to have taken a wrong turn somewhere, though.”
Tony’s schedule had the Second Year Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw class after breakfast, double block First Year Gryffindor/Hufflepuff that went on from after lunch to Harry’s Seventh Year double block with the Hufflepuffs.
“Do you know what that magnifying glass is doing there?” Harry asked.
Peter’s brown eyes followed his finger and softened when he spied the message in question. “You know, I could never figure out which one of them came up with that symbol,” he smiled up at it. “Agent, Booker, Sparky and Pin – as you may already know – were called the Detectives because if you had a question to answer or something to find, you went to those four and everyone knew that. One day, that showed up in connection with them and it’s been known as their crest ever since. That showing up now probably means the message is from a friend of the Detectives and the Dean knew it. If I know him, he’ll probably keep a copy of your note and put it in that scrapbook he thinks we don’t know about.”
“I sincerely hope that we’re friends,” Hermione smiled slightly, a pleased look on her face. “We met Sparky over the summer for the wedding dresses.”
“Between the two girls, Booker’s quieter,” he sighed, shaking his head fondly. “I remember one summer, I was supposed to test a potion to see if it was made correctly and Sparky was let loose. I sent the potion back and told them to make it again. If I can keep up with her, the potion works.”
Harry got Peter’s attention and frowned. “I was wondering about this for a bit,” he rubbed the back of his neck, “and I have to ask. Do you know about Agent?”
“The Detectives?” he blinked. “Well, there’s quite a few things I know about that concerns them some way or another. Why?”
“I mean, is there something about them that doesn’t quite fit with what they are supposed to have?” he remembered Tony saying that he and his friends all had a feature as Animagi that their human forms didn’t.
Peter suddenly grinned. “Oh, that? Yeah, I know about it.”
“They told you?” Ron tilted his head.
“You could say that,” he smiled mysteriously. “But you know,” he looked thoughtful, “his coloring never did make sense. All four of them.”
“All of them?” Hermione frowned. “And none of you could figure out why?”
“No. And believe me, we all tried. It’s just never happened and I’ve been keeping an eye out for anything ever since on the subject. If Shep knows anything, I haven’t heard from him about it.”
“That’s Tony’s Third Year, isn’t he?” Ron checked.
“Whatever happened to him?” Hermione added.
“Last I heard, he was somewhere very classified,” Peter told them. “Haven’t heard anything about him being injured or anything, so it’s no news is good news at this point.”
“I hope Tony gets back into contact with him soon,” Hermione said earnestly. “Tony doesn’t talk about him a lot, but he’s always fond when he does.”
“And Shep was my First Year, too, as it happens,” Peter revealed with a grin.
“I think Tony said something about that,” Harry frowned, trying to think back before letting it go with a shrug. “What was he like in school?”
Peter was silent for long moments before a soft smile appeared on his face. “Well… I always wondered if Tony would eventually turn out to be like him. And sometimes I wondered if maybe Shep would be more like Tony. You know, more than once they were mistaken for either cousins or brothers since they looked so much alike back then. Back when I met him during his First Year, Shep reminded me of Tony like you wouldn’t believe and I may have… overstepped a few times,” he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.
“And then Tony showed up and … Shep changed. At first, he was… unsure of himself. It took me the better part of the year before he started letting me in, but he didn’t even last three months when Tony and Booker barreled into his life. Now that I think of it, the enchanted pirate cutlass might have had something to do with it. Anyway, Tony got him to open up even more and I could tell by the end of that first year because Shep was more open with me and more relaxed. Pin’s father always told us that I was the one that got Shep when he was just a young kid focusing on his studies and Tony got him when that adventure streak started showing up. I think that’s part of why he went into the Air Force. The Dean wasn’t wrong,” he laughed. “I think Shep and Tony encouraged each other to solve puzzles and that Tony gave Shep a love of mystery where it wasn’t present before.”
“You must like mysteries, too, right?” Ron eyed him thoughtfully. “Else you wouldn’t be so close to Tony now.”
“Oh, do I!” his brown eyes lit up as he grinned. “Me, Aidan and Shep found ourselves embroiled in those mysteries almost as much as the Detectives did!”
“We met Aidan and his roommates Sally and Josh,” Hermione informed him. “In Diagon Alley.”
“And I bet Aidan and Tony never told you about their first meeting,” Peter gleefully told them. “Oh, I remember it like it was yesterday…”
In the end, Peter never did make it to the kitchens as he related the story of Tony first meeting Aidan a full week after classes started. Evidently, Institute Aidan was a little more… of a jerk than he was now and Tony had heard rumors about him and how he made the younger Years cry by scaring them half to death. Peter and Shep had never actually had problems with him, but they’d been aware of the rumors and – Peter, at any rate – had continuously warned Tony and his fast friend Booker about the Vampire that would be graduating with them and who lived in Tony, Peter and Shep’s shared House. What Peter nor Shep ever thought to do was actually investigate the rumors, which made Tony’s sudden disappearance that much more nerve wracking.
It turned out later that Tony had decided to confront Aidan about being a bully and had followed him out to the grounds before curfew, where – naturally – they both ended up in trouble with no immediate access to help.
“And we never heard the full story from that, either,” he told the Trio, the story having attracted Vince and Neville to their study table. “All I know about it is that Aidan very slowly started changing after that, but Tony was well into his Third Year before the rest of the school began relaxing around the guy. Between the both of them, Shep and Aidan would either not be here today or be completely different men if not for Tony.”
It was really good to know that Tony was valued by other people in his life who cared for him and Harry had no doubt his oldest friend’s impact on the lives of others. He’d most certainly changed his life and that of Ron and Hermione, though completely by accident.
“It’s really hard to believe that one person could make so much of a difference,” Vince shook his head.
“Not really,” Harry remembered Tony’s heartbreaking holiday time confession in Fifth Year and the infamous ‘Madam Director’ who – in Harry’s opinion - single-handedly destroyed Tony’s relationships with his team.
Peter glanced at his watch and did a double-take at the time. “Better be going off to class, guys,” he reluctantly spoke up.
“Will you be joining us?” Hermione asked.
“Not today,” he shook his head. “I promised to help Hagrid set up for class.”
“Be careful,” Ron advised. “If it’s the one I think he’s doing, then you’ve got your work cut out for you, mate.”
They arrived to Defense class and it was quite honestly the most unnerving one yet.
Tony was physically there, yes, but his attention seemed focused elsewhere all through the lesson even though he’d set them to do classwork in the last half of class. He’d called five people by the wrong name and almost walked into a wall twice, not counting the three times he’d walked into the podium.
Harry was almost glad that class ended for dinner because Tony’s distraction had the rest of them distracted in concern about his unusual lapse in concentration.
When everyone finally left the class, Harry, Ron and Hermione were the last ones as Tony shut the door behind Parvati and sunk into an empty seat with a groan.
“Thank Merlin that’s over,” he sighed, rubbing his hands through his hair.
“What is it?” Hermione crouched down next to him. “Are you alright?”
“Me, yeah. I’m just… worried about Peter,” he told them as Ron and Harry hopped up to sit on nearby desks. “Today is just a very hard time for him.”
“Because of what happened?” Ron asked quietly, even his shallow emotional depth telling him to be careful.
“Yeah. I… It was the year I joined NCIS, so. We – me and Gibbs – were in Ohio for this week-long thing before we started looking for another partner and … We were stuck there in the days following because the airlines had been grounded. No one was allowed to fly anywhere and we were both worried sick about a lot of people. A plane had been brought down in Pennsylvania – by the passengers who sacrificed themselves to keep the tragedy from getting worse, so we don’t know where it would’ve ended up – and a plane had been flown into the Pentagon not that far from our office. Ducky and Abby frantically called us to make sure that we were okay and we were talking over them to make sure they themselves were safe and the Director at the time – Morrow – had locked the Yard down so they were all stuck there. And Peter…” he shook his head as he let his gaze fall.
“Elizabeth, his wife, was his fiancé at the time and she was at this shindig in California and, you know, that was the first time she ever called me. She couldn’t get a hold of Peter in New York City and asked if I heard anything from him and you could just imagine how terrified we both were about it and about where Peter was. And New York City was just overloaded with calls from all over the world as people tried getting in touch with family and friends, so it was all but hopeless to get a call through. Donners eventually got a hold of me, saying that Peter was fine and had made it to his Magical office because the Muggle office was completely shut down and everyone was ordered off the streets. He left me and Elizabeth a message that he was alright and was going to stay in the Magical World for the next week and that we were to stay away from the City as long as we could.”
“So he was alright?” Hermione asked as Harry felt like he could breathe again.
“Yeah,” he nodded slowly. “He later told Elizabeth that he was at the house when it happened and that his superior, Hughes, had told him to stay put to leave things to the professionals. Donners said that Peter had checked into his Magical office about two days later when Peter was just about climbing the walls in boredom.”
Something about Tony’s tone or the look on his face made Harry frown. “You don’t believe him?”
“Truth? No. And don’t give me that, Mi, I’ve known Peter a lot longer than you so I know him better.”
“Why wouldn’t you, though?” Ron asked, leaning back on his palms. “He’s your cousin.”
“Your favorite one,” Hermione added. “Why would he lie to you?”
“I never said I knew why, I just said that he wasn’t telling the whole truth. And I’ll tell you why,” he raised a finger. “Number One: He’s my cousin, as you said, and my favorite one. So, that would tell you that we’re at least similar to each other since we were in the same House and all. And if it were me, I would’ve been at Ground Zero in a heartbeat. Peter’s not so different in that regard, so I have to wonder about his activities the day of and those following the attacks. Number Two,” he raised a second finger, “it’s Peter. There’s a reason we tell him that he can’t lie to save his life. At least not to me and not for long. And Number Three: Pin gave him a camera for Christmas two years before. He adored that camera and took it with him everywhere or at least left it where everyone could see it and comment on it. After 9/11, however, the camera disappeared. Once, I tore that entire house apart to find it and it was just gone. No trace of it ever being there has surfaced since. If it wasn’t for Pin continuously asking me about it, I would’ve thought a long time ago that I just dreamed the thing up.”
Tony seemed pretty convinced that he had strong evidence to support his distrust of Peter’s version of events, but Harry felt that his own lack of experience with Peter was hampering his agreement. Ron and Hermione probably felt the same due to their conflicting expressions.
“Not that I expect any of it to mean something to the three of you,” Tony smiled wryly. “Not this early in your relationship with him, but I just wanted you to know where I was coming from. Anyway,” he shook his head. “Enough about all this. It’s in the past and Peter’s still here to not talk about it, so let’s think about something else. Like dinner.”
He herded them out and escorted them to the Tower to admire the flag all filled up with sympathetic messages and lit up when his eye caught the Trio’s message.
Ron told him that Peter said he didn’t know how the Detective Crest came to be and it surprised them when Tony didn’t offer information.
“Unless you don’t know, either,” Hermione frowned.
“Oh, I know,” Tony smiled mysteriously, “but the Crest remains secret between the four Detectives. Sort of like our… password, if you will. Helps to identify people when you haven’t seen them and they suddenly show up out of the blue. If they don’t know, then they’re being impersonated by unsavory characters.”
“Oh,” Harry sighed. “I guess that makes sense.” They would be curious for ages, but they understood the use of insider information and how that was used to confirm identities.
They headed down to the Great Hall with plenty of time before dinner and found Peter talking to some Ravenclaws about teachers.
“Well, I see you’re still alive,” Tony quipped as he waved a hand at them.
“Barely,” Peter grinned back. Harry was glad to see the sparkle back in his brown eyes.
“Hello, Professor DiNozzo,” Radar adjusted her glasses as they stopped in front of her. “Agent Burke saved Professor Hagrid’s life,” she gushed.
“Not too difficult to accomplish,” Tony deadpanned. “Peter?”
“It wasn’t that big of a deal,” he waved a hand. “I just stopped him from tripping over a log.”
“And it might have been a serious injury,” another Fourth Year added earnestly.
“Well, look at you,” Tony smiled slightly. “Already making friends.”
“Yeah,” Peter snorted. “Under misconceptions of their own making.”
“Oh, speaking of friends,” a Third Year spoke up. “Hey, Radar, I went looking for your Dean Evansworth yesterday.”
“Dean Evansworth?” Tony frowned at them. “From Creswell?”
“That’s what he told me,” Radar shrugged. “He sounded very fond of you.”
“What would he be doing here?” Peter asked Tony, who looked just as puzzled.
“No idea.”
“I met him last year, too,” Harry recalled. “But I thought it was just me.”
“I think Rosslyn met him, too,” Radar offered. “He’s something else, isn’t he?”
“Yeah,” Tony answered. “Kept offering everyone wine during test days. Even those who couldn’t drink, yet.”
“Those were the days,” Peter laughed.
“I want to meet Dean Evansworth, too,” Hermione told Harry.
“He wasn’t in his frame,” the Third Year told them, “but his frame was just like Radar said.”
“We’ll have to go looking for him another day,” Tony shook his head. “I’m not going to miss dinner for him no matter how cool he is.”
“You did in school,” Peter pointed out. “Gave us all heart attacks, too, when no one could find you.”
“You say that as if I was the only one who got carried away with him. I seem to recall Shep having a panic attack when he couldn’t find you after missing your own review session.”
“Remind me again what it was he thought happened to me?”
“Something about falling through a floor while investigating an unexplored part of somewhere and failing to hold your own against an army of dragon riding ninjas.”
“Sounds about right.”
“What were you all like in school?” Hermione had to ask. “Everything I’ve heard thus far makes your school years far more exciting than ours ever was.”
“You would think,” Tony snorted. “Then I joined NCIS for real and found out that everything I’d ever gone through before was just practice.”
“I guess the real world is far stranger than school could ever be,” Ron shrugged.
“I can’t wait until you find that out for yourself.”
They moved inside the Hall for dinner and, despite the day’s beginning, stayed in good spirits until Peter had to leave shortly after.
Harry returned to the Tower as Tony saw his cousin off and Ron and Hermione went to a quick meeting, Harry not waiting for them to come back before doing some homework and heading to bed a bit early.
It was kind of interesting how emotional things tired one out and he wholeheartedly welcomed the wave of exhaustion that sent him to sleep, his mind strangely recalling a picture in Tony’s office of an ash covered car and the vow ‘Never Forget’.
* **