Chapter Text
When they were all back in the car, Harry kept his eyes on the windshield. Why make a deal at all? he asked Riddle.
It had been bothering him. Riddle had not needed to bargain. Harry had stupidly given away his freedom already.
For a moment, Riddle did not answer. His expression went distant in the specific way of a man remembering past trauma.
Then, with surprising seriousness, he said, Harry, we are never fighting again.
Harry laughed. Loudly. Helplessly.
Cheer up, Riddle. No one who saw the performance survived the night. Except me. As it should be.
"Ow, my chest hurts," Harry complained, even as he kept laughing.
“What are you laughing about?” the trainee asked with a tentative half-smile. She looked better now that they were parked and waiting for someone to arrive with their Portkey. Some color had returned to her face.
Harry wiped at his eyes and gave her the kind of polite smile one offered at the end of a normal workday. "What's your name again?" Harry asked her.
"Sarah Walker, nice to meet you. You are Iris's brother, right? I was in her year, but I was a raven."
Harry blinked as he searched his memory for that last name. "Any relation to Robert Walker from Transportation?"
Her smile widened, "You know my dad?"
"Nice guy. Who is your mom?"
"Nancy Williams."
Harry froze.
"NANCY is your mother?" Harry coughed, needed the inhaler again, before he asked again in a more appropriate volume, "Nancy is your mom?"
Sarah frowned. "You know her?" Then her eyes narrowed. "Wait, are you Harry from first?"
Harry brightened. "She talks about me? I knew she secretly liked me."
"She hates you."
Harry deflated.
"She said you're the worst janitor we'd had in the last ten years."
"I'm not a fucking janitor!" Harry yelled. "No wonder she kept sending me requests for bathroom repairs."
Then he paused. "Wait—is Nancy married to Robert from Transportation?" Harry couldn't imagine a more mismatched couple.
"No," Sarah shrugged, "I was an affair baby."
"YOU WERE WHAT?"
Harry cleared his throat and tried again with a more socially acceptable level of interest, "I mean. What?"
I would accuse you of playing the fool, but I know better.
Shhhh. My show is on.
Sarah, bless her, had no shame about discussing her family history, and Harry latched onto every detail like it was mission-critical intelligence.
"That means Margaret is your half-sister,” Harry mused. “Are you excited for the wedding?"
"We're not that close, but I'm going. Are you invited?"
"I am."
"I was also invited," Riddle chimed in.
Harry gaped at Riddle. "No, you were not."
"Yes, I was."
"You found out about the wedding through the papers."
"My invitation came later. The owl was sickly."
Harry narrowed his eyes, "Sickly, was it?"
“Remind me,” Riddle said smoothly, “how did she meet Pete?”
Harry sat straight to pay all of his attention to the answer.
"Have you been smoking?" Liliana accused as she ushered them in.
For a minute, the doorway became a bottleneck of wet boots, discarded coats, muttered apologies, and the noise of too many people crowded in the entrance.
"Seriously, I've been worried sick, and you all have been smoking."
Her eyes landed on Harry. "Harry, dear, you look a mess. Go shower."
“I dragged them back, just like you wanted,” Harry said, bravely ignoring their identical looks of betrayal as he made his quick escape to the bathroom.
Then she turned on Pike and Martinez. "And you two, why does Harry look like he walked through Fiendfyre to pick you two up?"
“He saw an opportunity to make this about him,” Pike muttered.
“He has a pathological need to be the most injured person in every room,” Martinez added.
“I’m glad everyone is okay,” Liliana said, already moving toward the kitchen. “You must be starving. We have plenty of food. Rob, help me set out more plates. Pike, honey, enlarge the table and summon more chairs.”
Harry left the shower feeling almost human again. The steam had loosened the grit from his skin and eased the ache in his chest.
He stepped into the adjoining room with a towel slung low around his hips, not expecting anyone to be inside.
Riddle was sitting on the edge of the bed. Waiting.
A clean change of clothes lay folded neatly beside him.
Harry stopped. “What are you doing here?”
Riddle’s gaze moved over him, slow and deliberate.
“You took too long,” he said.
Harry looked down at himself, then back at Riddle. “I was showering.”
“Yes,” Riddle said.
Harry rolled his eyes and crossed the room to the clothes. He picked up the shirt first. Riddle watched him slide his arms through the sleeves with unnerving focus.
The shirt settled over Harry’s shoulders. Riddle’s expression did not change, but his attention sharpened.
Harry’s smile widened. “You’re staring.”
“I am aware.”
“Most people stop when called out.”
“Most people bore me.”
Harry huffed, but his fingers were very deliberate as he fastened the first button. Then the next. Riddle’s eyes followed each one.
Harry reached for the trousers. “You could turn around.”
Riddle leaned back on one hand. “I could.”
Harry waited.
Riddle did not move.
“Terrible manners,” Harry muttered as he grabbed the pants.
“You were hurt,” Riddle said softly. “Allow me one vice.”
Harry turned slightly away, not out of modesty, but because he knew exactly what the line of his back looked like when he did.
“You are enjoying this,” Riddle accused.
Harry looked up, all innocence and damp curls. “I have no idea what you mean.”
“Liar.”
“Voyeur.”
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Harry finished buttoning his trousers before opening the door.
"Dinner is ready," James said. His eyes flicked from Riddle on the bed to Harry's wet hair.
Then his expression tightened. "Can I talk with you for a moment?"
Harry nodded at Riddle. "I'll see you in a moment."
James closed the bedroom door and just stared at Harry.
"What did you want to talk about?" Harry prompted when the silence stretched.
“I’m concerned about his interest in you.” James lowered his voice. “Mr. Riddle only goes after powerful, smart, or useful people. I don’t know what use he thinks he has for you, but I don’t like it.”
Harry gaped, incredulous. "Did we completely skip over powerful and smart to land on useless?"
"That's -that's not what I meant." James exhaled, frustrated. "You always do this. You twist my words to make me out to be the bad guy."
"I repeated back what you said. It's not my problem that you can't express yourself without it sounding insulting."
"I don't want to fight.” James rubbed a hand over his face. "You are right, I should have worded my concern better."
Harry said nothing.
"Harry, you are beautiful and smart," James continued carefully. “ I just don't want you to feel pressured into anything by an older, more powerful man. Your boss. Someone you might not feel confident saying no to."
“Again,” Harry said, “what happened to powerful?”
“Harry.”
“Fine. No more playing around.” Harry’s smile vanished. “I understand what you mean. And frankly, I find it insulting that at almost thirty, you feel entitled to worry about my sex life when you were perfectly comfortable letting me live in Vomit Alley at sixteen.”
James flinched.
“It’s touching, really, this sudden concern about predatory men. A few years late, but touching.”
“Harry—”
“But if it makes you feel better,” Harry said, voice turning sharp and bright again, “Riddle feels very comfortable telling me no.”
Pike opened the door without knocking. “Everything all right here?”
Harry did not look away from James. “Yes. We were finished.”
Pike’s gaze flicked between them. He only stepped aside to let Harry pass.
The warmth of the dining room hit Harry all at once. It was loud, bright, and happy. He took the empty seat beside Riddle, and accepted the plate Liliana pushed into his hands.
For a blessed minute, everyone focused on eating.
Then Sirius lowered his fork.
"How did you and Auror Martinez start dating?" Sirius, miraculously polite, asked.
"Well," Liliana started, eyes soft and happy, "he kept finding reasons to pass by my desk. Paperwork. Questions. A pen he had definitely never lost. Eventually, I told him if he was going to haunt me, he might as well buy me dinner first. He laughed and asked if Friday worked.”
Martinez choked on his drink.
"Really," Pike drawled. "We were told a very different story. One where he had the balls to ask you out.'
Riddle passed the plate of fish over Harry's head and handed it directly to Martinez. Martinez served himself and passed it to a frowning James, who looked down to see only one serving left, as he was the last one.
"Here, Harry, you can have mine," James said, putting the fish directly on Harry's plate.
The conversation died.
Pike, Martinez, Liliana, and Riddle all went still at once. Pike’s fork stopped halfway to his mouth. He set it down carefully. Martinez’s fingers tightened around the stem of his wineglass.
The others looked between them, then down at Harry’s plate, trying to figure out what had gone wrong.
Harry cleared his throat. "Thanks."
In a second, Riddle had taken his plate, and Liliana had swooped in and taken it from him.
"I'll bring you a new plate," Liliana promised. "I made chicken pot pie just for you."
James looked around the table, confused.
"I don't think he likes fish," Sirius ventured.
James looked stricken.
Liliana placed the new plate in front of Harry. The quiet click of porcelain against wood was loud in the silence. She sat down, smiled brightly, and clapped her hands. “Now we are all here for the big announcement.”
Harry and Pike sat up, suddenly alert.
Liliana beamed. "We are happy to announce...that we are moving together!"
"What?" Harry asked.
"What!" Pike echoed.
"Fucking Martinez," Pike whined, “You watched me buy twelve Baby on the Way shirts and said nothing.”
“I pre-ordered my suit for the wedding,” Harry said, devastated. “I’m going to lose the deposit.”
He caught Liliana’s look and straightened. “I mean, I’m so happy for you guys!”
"I've spent hundreds on movies and candy," Riddle said flatly.
Everyone looked at Riddle oddly, wondering what that had to do with it.
Harry, helpfully, did not clarify.
"Speaking of movies," Martinez started before he held up a new copy of Gilderoy Lockhart Presents: Gilderoy Lockhart, The Sequel with a shy look at Pike. "For the next movie night."
Harry looked at Martinez in betrayed horror. While also feeling unbearably fond of him.
"The sequel, you say?” Harry squeaked. “Didn’t know there was a sequel.” Had not wanted to know.
Would have happily lived twenty lifetimes without knowing.
He was going to ask Riddle for a full Obliviate of the night.
“I have snacks!” Harry cheerfully exclaimed, then looked at Riddle's thunderous expression and amended, "We have snacks!"
Dinner passed comfortably. Harry got up with Liliana to clear the table.
"What do you even talk about with him?" Liliana asked, halfway between disbelief and amusement as she passed him a plate to dry.
"Eh. What do we talk about?" Harry repeated, suddenly blanking on every conversation he'd ever had with Riddle. "Nothing much, really," he finally settled on. "Nothing important."
Harry just chattered about anything and everything —workplace drama, new romantic couples, his chicken— and Riddle listened.
Rarely added.
But Harry never doubted he was heard.
Occasionally, they'd have a deeper conversation about wants, needs, expectations, and life goals, but that wasn't the bulk of their talks.
Harry looked at Liliana blankly, "To be honest, I have no idea what he gains from our conversations. Except for a deeper, unwanted perspective on all of his subjects. He can now confidently talk about the lives of everyone on our floor, and at least who is dating whom from the other floors."
"I don't know," Liliana said with a secret smile. "I have never seen Mr. Riddle do anything he didn't want to do."
Harry laughed, his eyes creasing. "He has never wanted anything less. He would Obliviate the information from his brain if he weren't a hoarder. Or if he believed I wouldn't notice."
"When I first started talking with Rob, we would stay on the phone even while making dinner. We would leave the phone on speakerphone and talk about what we were making. As if the making of lasagna needed narration."
Harry smiled, a bit sadly, "It's not the same."
Liliana hummed. "Do you want any more cheesecake?"
"Yes, please."
Liliana busied herself serving him another plate.
"Harry?" She called after a pause.
Harry looked up —spoon halfway to his mouth.
She turned her full body towards him. "You know you are loved, right?"
Harry swallowed a too-large piece. "I know," he responded —uncertain about where this was coming from but feeling warm all the same.
“The boys,” Liliana said softly. “You are their center of gravity. It’s always Harry this or Harry that. I felt like I knew you before we ever officially met. And not just them. Rob’s team is always asking when you’re training with them. They talk so highly of you.”
Harry looked down at his cheesecake.
“Rob always tells me that if I’m afraid or worried, or in danger, and he isn’t there, I should find you. Not the Aurors. Not emergency personnel. Not anyone else. First step is always find Harry.”
She smiled, small and certain. “And they were right. I know they’ll never tell me the truth, but I know something happened tonight. And you brought them back. Thank you.”
Harry swallowed around the sudden tightness in his throat.
“I’m glad we have you,” he said sincerely. “I don’t know if you noticed, but we go to hell and back for each other. That includes you.”
They ate the rest of the dessert in comfortable silence.
“By the way,” Liliana said as she picked up their plates and sent them floating toward the sink, “do you know why they’ve been unreasonably concerned about an alien invasion lately? First, it was an emergency plan for zombies. Now aliens. I swear Henry is putting something extra in their stash.”
Harry blinked innocently. “No idea. Really.”
He paused. “By any chance, have you met Bob?”
Liliana frowned. “Who?”
“Never mind. That’s good.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Should I be worried?”
“I’m sure—” Harry started, then stopped. His features pinched together. “It’s probably... I mean, it does sound unreasonable. It’s impossible to accurately predict the future.”
He laughed nervously.
“They’re being silly. What are the chances of something like that really happening? Marginally higher if you meet an alien, obviously, but if it’s just the one...”
Liliana stared.
“And we are going to be very careful with the cave,” Harry added quickly. “I have a ritual and everything. Just in case anything happens. Not that anything will. It’s an abundance-of-caution thing.”
“Harry,” Liliana interrupted.
Harry blinked.
“Is Bob an alien?”
“What?” Harry laughed, much too loudly. “Why would you ask that? Bob? An alien? Last I heard, he was a perfectly normal guy trying to find a job. And it’s not an easy economy. Riddle raised taxes again. Have you heard about the new tax reform?”
Liliana’s face went deadpan. “Okay. Got it. You don’t need to torture both of us by talking about taxes.”
Harry shut his mouth.
“Congratulations,” she continued. “You have successfully done what Rob and Pike have not managed to do. I’ll never leave my emergency bag at home again.”
Harry paused.
“Thank God,” he said, posture relaxing. “I know nothing about the new tax reform.”
They burst out laughing, causing the rest of the group to drift toward them to see what was so funny.
“Nothing,” Liliana said with a smile. “Just learning that aliens exist.”
Riddle sat beside Harry, his arm sliding along the back of the couch behind Harry’s head, not touching but close. “Is he talking about Bob again?” he asked, theatrically rolling his eyes.
Harry elbowed him. “You’ll be sorry when the alien invasion begins. Me? I’m sucking up now so they take me to their world.”
“Oh, really?” Riddle leaned closer. “Planning to leave me again, are you? I may have to take this alien invasion seriously.”
“Only if I’m offered a better deal.”
Riddle’s smile sharpened. “Then I’ll have to make sure my deal is unbeatable.”
“Ugh,” Pike interrupted, disgusted. “Go flirt somewhere else. We need to file the report.”
"And Harry needs to go to the hospital," Riddle cut in.
Later, in the kitchen, when it was just Harry and Liliana packing leftovers, Harry hesitantly asked, "Are the —the nightmares getting better?"
Martinez didn't like talking about it, but that didn't mean they were gone.
"Last one was two months ago," she replied proudly.
Harry felt happy.
Like, for once, the world was just as it was supposed to be.
"Come on!" Pike yelled from the other room. "We are leaving."
"One minute!" They both yelled back, their faces equal in suffering.