Chapter Text
Josh hadn’t planned on coming to the Slytherin-Ravenclaw match, but Mark had forced him, telling him he would “regret missing out” on a Quidditch game.
“I understand you’re mad at him, but I can’t miss the chance to watch my house beat the Slytherins, and everyone is here anyways.” says Mark as he pulls out his ratty pair of binoculars. Josh wonders how long he’s had those; they look almost ten years old, if not more. There’s plastic rubbing off in between Mark’s fingers. “I don’t even know why you’re so upset with him. Can’t get a word out of either of you.”
“That’s because it’s none of your business,” Josh answers dryly, although he has thought about taking it to a teacher. But Josh doesn’t want to get Tyler in trouble or expelled from school. “Who’s winning, anyways?”
“Slytherin, but Brown’s an excellent seeker, she’ll-” Mark pauses, pulling the binoculars away to squint. “What is going on with her broom?”
Josh squints too, leaning forward to see better, and there the Ravenclaw seeker is, her broom jerking all around like it’s trying to throw her off. The poor girl screams as it jerks hard enough to send her falling, and she manages to latch three fingers onto the handle of her broomstick before dropping.
“Brooms don’t do that, someone’s gotta be messing with her-”
Mark’s voice fades into the background, because Josh is no longer focused on the Ravenclaw girl, but the boy in the faded green Slytherin robes plummeting towards the ground like a bird with broken wings. “That’s Tyler, that’s TYLER!” Josh screams, jumping up from his spot to push down between frantic people. He yanks his wand out and points at Tyler’s body, yelling as loud as he can, “Arresto Momentum!” and the Slytherin boy stops inches above the ground briefly before flopping lifelessly into the grass. There’s commotion in the stands and on the field; even Woody seems frozen, unable to bring any commentary.
The Ravenclaw Captain calls a much needed time out and Josh uses this time to rush down onto the field, ignoring Mark shouting after him. The teams both land, gathering around Tyler with murmurs, and Professor Longbottom tells them to spread out, “give the boy some space.”
Tyler is seizing, his body shaking uncontrollably, and he keeps whispering, whispers that are pure gibberish to most of the people there. Josh shoves past everyone, ignores all the talking, and drops to his knees when he sees how sick Tyler looks. He’s pale, paler than Josh has ever seen, and Tyler is not a pale person; he’s beautiful, with dark, tanned skin, and beautiful eyes, and, and-
“Everyone stand back,” Professor McGonagall, headmistress of Hogwarts, says firmly, and the crowd parts. She approaches Tyler carefully, and when all the colour drains from her face, Josh knows something is terribly wrong. “Clear the pitch. I want everyone in their common rooms safe and sound, this is an emergency, understand me?” she turns towards Professor Longbottom. “Neville, go get the nurse.”
He nods his head firmly and leaves with the rest of the students, leaving Josh alone with the headmistress. He’s never seen Tyler like this, never seen anyone like this, in so much pain, writhing like they’re being tortured.
“Boy, I need you back in the Hufflepuff basement, okay? Run along.”
Josh is frozen to the spot, his hands shaking next to his side. He’s just as afraid as everyone else. “He’s speaking parseltongue, isn’t he?”
McGonagall looks up at Josh in surprise. “How do you know about that?”
“I told him there was only one person that could do that. Voldemort. And I didn’t, I didn’t believe him, he told me-”
She has Tyler in her arms now, restraining him from hurting himself. “Is this your friend?”
Josh nods. “He, Tyler, he’s been under some kind of spell, I don’t know what’s wrong with him, he’s not well-”
Professor Longbottom returns with the nurse, Madam Pomfrey. McGonagall gestures to the Professor again. “Neville, if you could walk this boy back to where he belongs.”
“No, I can’t leave, I know the most about him, you don’t understand, if I hadn’t used that spell, he would have died -”
“We can take things from here. I’m sorry, but I am not willing to risk the safety of our students. When he’s restrained and we know what’s really going on, I’ll send someone to fetch you.”
“Come along Josh,” Professor Longbottom says quietly, taking his student by the upper arm. Josh gives in with a sniff, and lets the Professor walk him off the field. “They’ll get things sorted out, okay? That’s what McGonagall does best, trust me. I’ve gotten into plenty of messes she’s had to sort out.”
“He’s my best friend,” Josh sobs, unable to control his emotions. Tyler could have died, if Josh hadn’t been at that match to slow his fall. He should have told a teacher, then they wouldn’t be in mess. “I love him.”
“They’ll take good care of him, I promise.” And right there in the corridor, the Professor hugs his crying student as hard as he can.
-
A week passes, and Tyler is still not well. They reschedule the Quidditch match and find a fill in seeker. Josh feels sick to his stomach.
The teachers won’t tell him a goddamn thing. The most he gets are a few updates from Professor Longbottom, who’s doing his best to keep Josh sane. Thing is though, Josh isn’t sane. He’s far from it. He can’t concentrate on anything, especially not his homework, and the rumors that circulate make him even sicker.
“That Joseph kid, I heard he’s possessed by dark magic.”
“You don’t think he’s related to Voldemort, do you?”
“He’s probably a Death Eater. Someone should send him to Azkaban before we all get hurt.”
“No wonder he’s a Slytherin. You know all the dark wizards come from there.”
Josh spends most of his time in his dorm now, unable to bear the thought of what Tyler got himself into. Josh was so selfish to leave Tyler alone like that. He should have been there for him, not stormed away like an angry girlfriend.
If only he had seen the signs of how sick Tyler truly was.
A knock at the door rips Josh away from his thoughts, and he sits up, surprised when the visitor turns out to be Zack. The thought that an outsider is in the Hufflepuff basement doesn’t even cross his mind for once.
“Zack?” Josh blinks. “How did you get in here?”
“I talked to someone, and they helped me in,” he replies, voice barely over a whisper. Josh can see how pained Zack looks too. “I just uhm, I wanted to talk to you, about Tyler.”
“I probably know just as much as you.” he sighs, and pats the spot next to him. “But we can talk.”
Zack happily sits down, and starts gnawing on a hangnail. Josh watches him curiously. He doesn’t know Tyler’s brother that well, and from Tyler’s perspective, Zack is the absolute worst person in the world.
Finally, Zack stops chewing and rolls his palms nervously over his knees. “I’m so scared.” And then he’s crying.
Josh scoots closer to wrap an arm around Zack’s shoulders. He reminds himself that Zack’s still a child, only twelve years old, and that this must be so awful for him. “I was there, at the g-game, and he fell, he could have died, and this whole time I’ve been such a j-jerk to him-”
“It’s not your fault he fell Zack, he’s very sick.”
“And no one can tell me why! They haven’t even told our parents, they’re keeping this a secret from our parents -”
“Zack, have you noticed any weird behaviour from Tyler? Like, before all of this happened. Over break, maybe?”
He sniffs and uses his robes to wipe his nose. “Uhm, over Christmas, he uh, he stayed in his bedroom a lot. There was this book he had, and he kept stroking it, I don’t even think he realized what he was doing, but it was sort of freaky.”
“Did he let anyone near the book?”
“No, I made some joke about it and he got really offended. Ever since we got back, he’s been acting really strange, he’s so much meaner, telling me he’s going to ruin my life, wishing I wasn’t alive, and I know I do stuff back to him, I know he’s jealous because I’m a Gryffindor like our father, but he’s never been this vocal about it. You and Mark, you two are his best friends, and you were the only people I could think of to come too. All the professors, you know they’re whispering about it, talking about dark magic... but that’s not Tyler. He’s so nice to everyone around him, he couldn’t possibly be dabbling in that stuff himself.”
Josh sighs again, louder this time, as he starts tapping on his thighs to keep himself occupied. “Tyler is cocky. He’s the kind of person to do something stupid because someone told him he couldn’t do it. Like the time he drank that potion-”
“And ended up vomiting frogs for almost four hours.” Zack grins at the memory, the tips of his ears turning red. In mere seconds though, he’s back to looking grim. “Do you think that’s what happened? Someone dared him to do something, and he just... did it?”
“I don’t think you understand how hard Tyler tries to fit in,” Josh murmurs without looking up from his lap. Years of Tyler spilling his feelings out to Josh was building up for the moment when Josh betrayed his trust. “In a long line of Gryffindors, Tyler’s the only Slytherin, and he’s been troubled by that for years. He told me that the sorting hat said he had potential for something, but never revealed what that something was. He’s been sort of obsessed with finding out what the hat meant. And he struggles morally, because when he feels like he wants to do something wrong, he does the right thing instead. He forces himself too. These past couple of months, Tyler’s stopped doing that. He let his bad side take over.”
Zack blinks, combing through all the information Josh gave him. “Do you think he cursed that Ravenclaw seeker’s broomstick?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised. He’s been cooping himself up in the Slytherin dormitories reading book after book about the Dark Arts-” Josh immediately slaps a hand over his mouth as Zack tumbles off the bed with a mortified look on his face.
“So the rumours are true then? Tyler’s been messing with dark magic? But, but, how could he?”
“He told me he could talk to snakes, that a snake told him about some books he could get his hands on-”
“My brother can talk to snakes?” Zack seems more and more terrified with each passing second. “No wonder they’re keeping this a secret from my parents! Tyler’s a parselmouth!”
“Zack, you can’t tell anyone, you understand? Tyler’s safety is our number one concern-”
“My dad’s been keeping some interesting secrets about the family, I’ll tell you-”
“Silencio!” Zack’s mouth snaps shut, unable to speak, and he looks at an annoyed Josh in fright. Satisfied, Josh tucks his wand back into his sleeve. “Thank you, I’ll fix that later. Now listen to me. Whatever dark magic Tyler has gotten himself into, I don’t think it’s fully his fault, and we’re going to get to the bottom of this with or without adults. The only person I could think to trust is Longbottom, he might be willing to help us. Even so, I’m not quite sure.”
Zack glares, and Josh huffs. “I said I’d fix it later, quite pouting. I can’t trust you not to run off and ruin everything, okay?” Zack gives in and nods. “Good. Now I’m going to go see if I can get into the hospital wing, do you want to come with me?” Another nod. “Let’s go then.”
-
McGonagall is whispering with Longbottom and Slughorn when the boys sneak around the entrance to the hospital wing. Josh ducks down and waves a hand so Zack (still unable to speak) will follow.
“Do you really think he’s related to the Dark Lord?” Longbottom sounds nervous.
“I don’t know Neville, but we know at least he’s related to Salazar Slytherin, or at least being controlled-”
“He’s a parselmouth, if news spreads...”
Josh pushes on the door a little, cracking it just enough for him to look through. He can see the teachers crouched over Tyler’s lifeless body. He’s barely breathing, his chest moving up and down ever so slightly. It makes Josh’s heart hurt.
“A book is missing from my office, a powerful, cursed book. I locked it away for a reason, probably shoulda took it off school grounds...” Slughorn frowns. “You think he took it?”
“McGonagall, you don’t think this is another Chamber of Secrets problem, do you? That the Dark Lord is manipulating this poor boy-”
“Neville, Voldemort has been dead for over nineteen years-”
“But he’s talking to snakes and jinxing brooms, endangering the lives of students-”
“Professor, I know enough, okay?” The Headmistress turns towards Professor Slughorn. “Horace, you have Joseph as a student, does he look like the kind of person to-”
“No,” Slughorn immediately says, “He’s one of the kindest students I’ve met-”
Longbottom scoffs, “Bloody hell, he’s friends with a Hufflepuff, -”
McGonagall opens her mouth to say more, when Tyler sits up. The lights all go out with a whoosh and the hospital wing fills with whispers. “Pomfrey?”
Josh turns back to look at Zack, who looks like he’s about to jump out of his skin.
“The Dark Lord will return.” Tyler hisses, his voice deep and chilling; Josh cracks the door further open to see that his best friend’s eyes are glowing bright red. He slaps a hand over his mouth to avoid squeaking. “You will all pay for your crimes against Lord Voldemort.”
And just like that, Tyler’s body falls back onto the bed, his breaths short, and the lights flash back on like nothing ever happened, leaving all the professors frazzled and terrified.
“I’d say Voldemort’s involved Miss,” Professor Longbottom about spats before he turns on his heel and walks out of the wing, the door nearly smacking Josh in the face. He’s gotta tell them now, if he doesn’t...
McGonagall sighs loudly, pressing a palm to her forehead. “Mr. Dun, Mr. Joseph, I know the pair of you are back there. If you would.” she waves her hand, and the door flies open, revealing the shaking Gryffindor and Hufflepuff.
“Okay,” Josh starts, trying to be calm, “what the hell was that?”
Zack frowns, trying to speak, and with a roll of her eyes, allows him to start rambling. “What is going on with my brother? What’s wrong with him, why is he hissing, why is he-”
“I know what Tyler was trying to do ma’am.” Josh clears his throat and bows his head. Slughorn sighs.
“Minerva, this is the Hufflepuff boy I was speaking of. He knows Mr. Joseph better than the rest of us.”
“Better than me, even,” Zack admits.
“Alright, then I’d like to speak to you alone.” Slughorn nods, leading Zack out of the infirmary. The headmistress and Josh sit down on a separate bed, and Josh proceeds to tell her everything.
He tells her about Tyler’s family, about his jealousy with Zack’s relationship with their father, he tells her about Tyler’s obsession with the sorting hat’s words, he tells her about Tyler’s personality to prove he was the best, to prove he could do anything, about his constant struggle about proving he wasn’t like past Slytherins. He tells her about Tyler’s meeting in the woods with the snake, about the book he stole from the library, the one he stole from Slughorn’s office, and how obsessed he became with knowing everything, experimenting with dark magic, about how he wanted to understand why everyone was afraid of it.
“So you see Professor, I don’t think he ever intended to do harm,” Josh says softly, glancing over at Tyler’s broken form, “he just got caught up in obsession.”
McGonagall smiles a broken, sympathetic smile. “I understand Mr. Dun. It seems like someone is using your friend to try and bring dark magic back, and Tyler’s curiosity only made things much worse.”
“Do you think he really is a parselmouth? Or is he being controlled?”
A sigh. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone was being heavily controlled by dark magic. We’ll get to the bottom of this, okay? I know you want to see your friend healthy again, and trust me, so do I. We haven’t had a problem in Hogwarts in over nineteen years, and I don’t want to see another student go.” McGonagall seems to be reminiscing in bad memories, and Josh takes that as his cue to leave. He stands up and fixes his robes. “Thank you for telling me all of this. You’re incredibly brave Josh.”
He blushes. “No one’s ever told me that before.”
“Perhaps deep down, you’re a true Gryffindor.”
Josh smiles. He feels a sudden burst of confidence, because Josh knows he’s about to do everything he’s ever been against. “No offense ma’am, but my heart belongs in Hufflepuff.” And with that, Josh walks out the door.
-
“Okay, tell me why you brought me out to these creepy woods at 11 o’clock at night?” Mark stares at Josh with his arms crossed. “And why is Zack here?”
“Because this is my fight too,” he argues. Josh scowls.
“Mark, you’re smart, and I need your help. We need your help. Tyler is in grave danger-”
“And the adults told us to leave it to them. They actually know what they’re talking about, believe it or not-”
“You know we can’t just sit back and let them take care of it. Tyler is our friend, and he needs us. Mark, you know I’m like the last person to do anything dangerous and break the rules, but I’m asking for your help here.”
Mark stares at Josh for a really long time, his brow furrowed in concentration. Josh bites his lip.
And finally, he sighs in defeat. “Fine. I’ll help. But if we get caught, I’m blaming you.”
Josh pumps his fist by his side. “Okay, look. We know Tyler had some sort of meeting with a snake out in these woods-”
“So that’s your plan? Find the snake? Josh, that’s ridiculous. If this mysterious person is using Tyler as their puppet, they’re probably hiding somewhere near the school. That’s how they can control him.”
“If I had to bet, it’s probably some low life Death Eater.” Zack adds.
“What, do they want Tyler to be the new Voldemort?”
“I assume they might want to start fresh, although I can’t imagine why.” Mark pushes fingers into his eyes and sighs loudly.
Josh’s face lights up. “They want a pure, untampered soul. Tyler’s perfect, he’s young, he’s innocent, they can feed off his energy-”
“And with a young face, they can blend in.”
Mark’s own face goes pale. “You don’t think they’re using the Imperius curse, do you?”
“Possibly. All I know is that we need to get this person locked away in Azkaban for a long ass time.” Josh stares into the darkness of the forest and shivers. He doesn’t want to think about all the horrible creatures lurking around in there, or the sick , twisted person who has Tyler under their control. “They’re bound to come out soon, don’t you think? What with that Dark lord stuff they had Tyler spewing.”
“Wait, what?” Mark’s pupils swell in size. “What happened?”
“He, had some sort of spell,” Zack starts, shifting uncomfortably, “his eyes were red and he was hissing, like, like some kind of snake.”
“Parseltongue?”
“Kind of, but we could understand what he was saying. Thing is though, Tyler’s spoken it before.”
“He, what?” Mark looks like he’s about to pass out.
“We just don’t know if he can actually speak it or if it’s one of the effects from the spell.”
“So when you said you were mad at him, and he, he passed out, he, he was... dark magic?” Mark starts hyperventilating and Josh thwacks him on the back a couple of times.
“Come on Mark, pull yourself together. We have to save him, okay? There isn’t much time left. I don’t want Tyler to die. I, I...” Josh sucks in a deep breath. It’s time people know. “I love him.”
“We all love him,” Mark starts with a wave of his hand, and Zack tugs on his elbow to shut him up. That’s when the realization hits. “Oh. You... you love him?”
Josh nods. “I do. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and if he dies, I don’t know what I’ll do with myself.”
Zack clears his throat. “When, when did you guys, start, like-”
“Year four. We’ve been sneaking around ever since, finding new places to test the limits and avoid getting caught.”
Mark’s eyebrows furrow; he still looks confused. “So all those times you would giggle with him, and you guys would talk about something that only the two of you knew about... you went to go make out?”
“Pretty much,” says Josh.
“Huh.”
“Can we do what we came here to do now? As much as I’m glad my brother has someone like you Josh, I really don’t want to talk about you kissing him.”
“Fine, okay. I have some sort of idea.” Josh turns towards the forest and points his wand in front of him. It’s sycamore wood, the colour of butterscotch, at 10 3/4 inches with unicorn hair. Maybe that’s why he’s so cocky all of a sudden; he knows with a wand like that he can’t be manipulated by dark magic. “Homenum Revelio.”
There’s a sudden uneasy pit in his stomach, and immediately Josh knows there’s a person hiding in the woods. A person that does not belong there.
“Well?” asks Mark impatiently. “Maybe you did it wrong.”
“No,” Josh whispers. “There’s someone in there.”
“Wait,” Zack says, leaning forward, “Do you guys see that? There’s an orange light-”
Josh squints, he’s trying to think of spells with orange light, but he can’t think of any, and then there’s heat, and a roaring sound that reminds him of a train. “That’s fire, guys, that’s FIRE!”
He pushes Zack and Mark to the ground right as a wave of fire explodes out of the forest above them, catching several trees on fire. The three boys watch in horror as the fire spreads to the field, giant orange flames turning the dead grass into ash.
“Aguamenti!” Josh yells over the roar of the flames, fumbling with his wand as a small stream of water shoots out the top. Mark pushes Josh out of the way.
“No you idiot, that’s not gonna work! You need the bigger one, oh my God, I can’t think of the bigger one-”
“Uh, maybe we should just go get a teacher, this is getting to be out of control-”
“Shut up Zack!” Josh racks his brain, try to think as hard as can. “Come on Josh, come on, come on... Ah! I got it! Aqua Erecto!”
The stream grows bigger, but it’s still not enough. The three step further away, the heat becoming unbearable.
“Josh this is NOT WORKING!” Mark is panicking now, tripping over his own feet and falling onto his butt. He scrambles back up and starts running away, Zack right at his side. The fire grows bigger, becomes more uncontrollable.
Out of the corner of his eye, Josh sees a hooded figure dart out of the forest. He backs up slowly, wand still pointed at the deafening flames. “Guys, guys, I saw them! They went that way!”
“Forget it Josh, we’re going to get ourselves killed!” Mark and Zack are halfway across the grounds now, almost to the entrance to the castle. Josh groans in irritation before turning to follow them.
-
Half of the staff spends the rest of the night putting the flames out, while the three of them sit in McGonagall’s office with their heads down. They know they’re in big trouble now.
She comes in and sits at her desk looking absolutely exhausted. Josh supposes he would have been as well, if he had spent all night extinguishing fires. “I can’t express how stupid the three of you were.” her voice is low and calm. “Going off into the middle of the night looking for a person who might not even be there-”
“But they were there,” Zack pipes up, and McGonagall has fury in her eyes.
“You boys could have gotten yourselves killed. Whoever was in the forest, they’re dangerous, and the fire they caused-”
“We’re doing more than any of you are!” Josh stands up, his voice raising in volume. He knows he’s making a poor decision yelling at the headmistress, but he can’t handle it anymore. “My best friend, Zack’s brother, Mark’s friend, is lying in there under the curse of dark magic just waiting to die!”
“Mr. Dun, please sit down.” she doesn’t raise her voice. “I understand your fear-”
“Like hell you do!”
“But we can’t risk his life, I certainly don’t want three young boys chasing after someone dabbling in the dark arts-”
“I’m willing to risk my life if that means Tyler is gonna be okay! It’s better than waiting here, being sitting ducks-”
“Enough! I will not allow you to speak to me that way, whether you are upset or not. I’m disgusted the three of you would even try and do something so dangerous. You will all serve a detention, and fifty points will be deducted from each house.”
Mark was pale. He had never lost points for anything. “Professor-”
“You can’t,” Zack starts.
“I can, and I will. You're lucky I'm not taking away more. We will take care of your friend on our own. I forbid you from coming anywhere near the hospital wing.”
Josh looks like he’s about to cry. “I can’t do that, he’s my best friend-”
“I understand Mr. Dun, but there are precautions we have to take. Please listen to me when I say I understand your pain. I’ve had students in the past go through the same things. When students get involved, all hell breaks loose.” she sighs. “You’re all dismissed. Please return back to your dorms.”
Josh is numb as Mark leads him out. He knows McGonagall is right, and he also knows that she isn’t going to stop him, not if he can help it, but he still can’t help but feel absolutely awful.
The three stop in the main hall before parting. Josh sniffs. “I’m sorry for getting you guys in trouble.”
“I don’t care,” Zack says. “I admire you for what you said back there Josh. We aren’t going to give up, are we?”
“I’m not giving up until Tyler is back to normal again.”
“Mark?” The Ravenclaw boy pushes his foot into the stone floor and sighs loudly.
“Okay, okay, I’m in. I want Tyler to be safe too.”
“And he will be, if it’s the last thing I do.”
-
Another week passes. Whispers fill the halls about the three boys that set the Forbidden Forest on fire.
Mark grumbles under his breath as he sits across from Josh in the library. Josh is reading some advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts book from the restricted section, trying to learn all he can about what Tyler got himself into.
“You know what Josh? I’m sick of this. We didn’t start those damn fires, we tried to put them out, and it failed. So we went and got help. If we hadn’t the school probably would have burned down.”
“They don’t know what’s going on. It’s better to leave them in the dark.”
“The great news is that I’ve never seen the Slytherin house be so quiet.” he grins. It’s small and pitiful. “Too bad we can’t go to the match.” Josh, Zack, and Mark had been banned, as a part of their punishment, from seeing the Quidditch match. Josh probably wouldn’t have gone anyways.
“Wouldn’t be the same without Tyler playing.” Josh doesn’t look up from his book.
“Josh... you aren’t...” Mark trails off, unable to figure out how to structure his sentence. Josh slams the book shut and stands up. “Josh, I’m really sorry.”
He shrugs. “That’s what we’re trying to fix.”
Mark watches him leave.
-
The next morning, Josh wakes up to screams.
He’s scrambling out of bed in seconds, tripping over his own feet to find out what’s going on. Turns out he’s not the only one, because there are other Hufflepuffs making their way out of the common room as well.
It is the entryway where Josh finds a nasty surprise.
There are a few girls huddled next to each other, their eyes red with tears and wide with fright, as they stare at the message written sloppily on the wall in crimson. That’s blood. Oh no.
Nice try
He swallows nervously, knowing that message is for him. Who else would it be for? Josh was the only person to see them escape.
“There’s a person over here!” Josh turns his head towards a boy, who’s pointing to a lifeless lump on the ground, blood still streaming from their arm. This must have been recent then.
Josh makes his way around a stack of barrels, and his heart stops when he sees who it is.
“Go get McGonagall,” he says firmly to anyone listening, dropping to his knees. Tyler’s eyes are hollow, with a dark purple tint to them, and he looks so weak, like he could break any second. Josh feels tears start to fall down his cheeks.
They might be too late by the time they can do anything.
“Episkey,” he mutters, happy for once that he insisted on always having his wand with him no matter what, and rests a little bit easier when Tyler’s wound heals. It makes his eyes look a tad better too, but Josh is starting to think nothing will make him truly better. He hugs Tyler to his chest, unable to let go.
“Josh,” McGonagall calls out as she rushes down the kitchen corridor, Flitwick and Longbottom on her heel. Josh is glad she brought Professor Longbottom with her.
However, the three stop when they notice the message smeared on the wall.
“Oh my,” she murmurs, looking somber. The other Hufflepuff students seem even more afraid now.
“Do you think the person that did this... is still inside?” asks Flitwick.
“They used Tyler,” Josh speaks up without turning his head. He pushes a sweaty lock of hair off Tyler’s forehead. His hair was getting so long and chaotic; Josh knew how much Tyler hated that, how much he liked to keep his hair short, or at least tamed. “Some psychopath had Tyler carve himself up to leave a message on the wall.”
McGonagall sighs. “Neville, please take Mr. Joseph back to the hospital wing, I will be up shortly. As for you Mr. Dun, I reckon we need to have another chat.”
“Alright, back into the common room,” Flitwick ushers the murmuring crowd back towards the entrance while Professor Longbottom ducks down to meet Josh’s level. He puts on a sympathetic smile.
“We’ll make sure he gets healed up,” he whispers. Josh sniffs.
“I tried to heal the minor cuts and scrapes, it healed his main wound-”
“I’ll come get you from McGonagall as soon as she’s done talking to you, alright? Then you can go visit him.”
“She told me I couldn’t see him.” Josh’s eyes start watering again and his grip tightens. He doesn’t want to let go.
“We won’t tell her then, okay?” he winks. “I promise Josh. Please.” Longbottom opens his arms, and with a sigh of defeat, Josh helps move Tyler into them. Tyler always had been skinny, but now his skin looks like it has been stretched over bones ready to snap any second, and his clothes look four times too big on him.
The Professor cradles Tyler to his chest as he disappears down the corridor. Josh doesn’t move from the floor, tears still running down his cheeks.
Next thing he knows, he’s sitting across from Professor McGonagall, picking at loose threads from his plaid pajama pants.
“That message was for you?” she asks bluntly. Josh nods.
“I was the only one of the three of us to see them run. They darted across the field after starting the fire. I was also the one to use the human locator spell.” he sniffs.
“This is why I told you not to get involved, if you would have-”
“I can’t sit there and not get involved Professor. I’m sorry for speaking back to you and being disrespectful, but I need to put forth my full effort to try and save my friend’s life, and I’m a little insulted you haven’t done anything to try and help in the least. You keep saying I need to stay away, but look where that’s putting us! I have reason to believe that this person is planning on using Tyler to resurrect everything the ministry worked so hard to end. They want to bring destruction, and Tyler is how they’re going to do it.”
“What makes you think this?”
“Think about it Professor. This person has to know some pretty dark magic, has to be good at using it, to control a young adult. Tyler’s the perfect choice. He was already interested in overstepping his boundaries, they just gave him that push. The fact that they can knock him out and wake him up to do their bidding whenever sounds pretty advanced to me, doesn’t it?”
“So... so he must have Slytherin blood in his body, if they want to use him to start fresh... that would mean he is a parselmouth.” McGonagall seems stumped by this information, and she rests her head in her hands briefly. “The last time we had a student who could speak parseltongue was over nineteen years ago.” a hint of a smile rises to her lips. “You remind me of that boy in a number of ways Mr. Dun.”
Heat burns on his cheeks. Josh ignores it. “They’re waiting, waiting for something. They want us to know what’s coming. What if...” Josh doesn’t want to think about the possibility. “What if they’re in the school?”
“We’ll check the school. I’ll have all the students gather in the great hall while we conduct our search.” She sighs again. “Never thought we’d have to do this again...”
“What about Tyler?”
“I will allow you to stay in the hospital wing with him and Longbottom. From now on, I want you under adult supervision, just in case they come after you again. We are going to increase security.” McGonagall rubs at her forehead. She’s stressed, trying to decide what’s best for everyone. Josh realizes that’s gotta be a tough job. Maybe he misjudged her. “Come along, Mr. Dun, let’s go.”
“Thank you,” he says, leaning in to hug her. McGonagall is taken back, her eyes wide, before she settles down and wraps her arms around the boy.
“Not even Dumbledore could have prepared me for this.”
-
Up in the infirmary, Josh sits in a chair next to Tyler’s bed. He’s aware Longbottom is across from him, but that hasn’t stopped Josh from running fingers through Tyler’s hair.
“Pomfrey’s a bit irritated, isn’t she? Your friend won’t really stay put.” Professor Longbottom chuckles nervously. He’s twisting his hands in his lap uncomfortably.
Josh doesn’t reply. He’s focusing all his energy into stroking Tyler’s hair.
“They’re searching the school right now. McGonagall told me she’s going to have people looking after you, just in case.”
“Yeah,” he mumbles.
“I’ll uhm, I’ll give you a moment. Should probably talk to Pomfrey, get a little better grasp of the situation...” the Professor stammers and trails off, standing up to go speak with the nurse on the other side of the hospital wing. The whole situation is awkward, but Josh appreciates Professor Longbottom more than he ever thought he would.
Josh pads a fingertip over Tyler’s cheekbones, his jawline, down the bridge of his nose. He tries to remember the last time they had snuck off giggling just to kiss each other. It felt like ages ago.
“Josh!” at the mention of his name, Josh looks up as Mark and Zack come running into the hospital wing.
“How did you guys get in here? You’re supposed to be down in the Great Hall.”
“We snuck up here,” Zack grins, “Flitwick accidentally spilled the beans, and he’s the Ravenclaw head of house, so he took pity on Mark. I just tagged along.”
“Ravenclaw won the match!” Mark cheers, and when Josh glares at him, he stutters over his words. “I mean, boo, how horrible, Ravenclaw won the match...”
“There’s rumours going around that there was a message written on the wall outside the Hufflepuff basement.”
“Yeah,” Josh answers, straightening the thin blanket pulled over Tyler’s torso, “It was for me. I already talked to McGonagall about it.”
“It was for you? Well, what did it say?”
“‘Nice try.’ They had Tyler use, use his blood.”
“Jesus,” Mark shakes his head sadly. “Things are getting worse.”
“Are they searching the school for any signs of a break in? For the person that’s using Tyler?”
Josh nods. “They’re amping up security too. And I’m not going to be able to go anywhere without a teacher on my heel...”
“We’re still going after this person though, right?”
Mark gasps. “Zack, they had Tyler cut himself open and write a message with his own blood. You wanna go after a person that dangerous?”
“Yeah!” Zack raises his voice a little, puffing up his chest, “He’s my brother!”
“Mark, for someone to control another person, to manipulate and send messages through them, how close would they have to be?”
“Pretty close, at least close enough to mutter spells.”
“So, would they be in the school?”
“Could be. I don’t know how they would hide though, what with all the searching they’re doing...”
“Wait...” Zack taps his chin with a finger, “There are other places they could hide, places-”
“What are you boys doing in here? Out, get out!” Madam Pomfrey storms towards Zack and Mark angrily, Professor Longbottom on her heel.
“You two are supposed to be in the Great Hall!”
“We only came to offer support to Josh,” Mark starts, but Pomfrey is not having it.
“Longbottom, take the three of them downstairs. I need to treat this boy.”
“Yes ma’am,” he replies, ushering the three boys out of the room. Josh scowls, but he assumes it’s probably for the best. He latches a hand on Zack’s shoulder.
“What were you saying?”
“Tomorrow night, you and Mark meet me outside Gryffindor Tower. We can talk there.”
Josh nods, his stomach twisting into knots.
-
“Josh.”
With a small grumble, Josh turns on his side and pulls his blankets tighter around his body.
“Josh, psst, babe.” his bed squeaks and suddenly there’s a person wrapping warm arms around his torso. Josh jerks, now wide awake as he stares into Tyler’s dark eyes.
“Tyler?” he’s surprised, his heart swelling, as he pulls Tyler into a big hug. “Wha, what are you doing here? How did you-”
“I broke out of it. I don’t know how, but I just, I woke up, and I came straight here. You’re so brave Josh, trying to save me, and I can’t believe all the stuff you did for me, it’s unbelievable. I love you so much.” he tightens his arm around Josh’s waist and pulls him in for a kiss. Josh closes his eyes, his mind spinning, as he melts into the mattress. Tyler’s fingers curl in Josh’s hair.
He’s in love, he’s so in love, and Tyler’s okay, he’s okay, and everything can be fine now.
“I love you too,” Josh mumbles against Tyler’s mouth. “I’m going to make sure you never get hurt ever again.”
“Let’s forget about all this stuff, and just focus on each other for now, okay? I wanna treat you.” his lips trail down Josh’s jaw, one of his hands tugging on the waistband of Josh’s pjs, when the lightbulb in his bedside lamp explodes. Josh pulls away in surprise, watching as one by one, each lightbulb blows out, leaving the room pitch black. He waves a hand in front of his face, a pit forming in his stomach. The mattress dips as Tyler pushes off.
“Tyler?” Josh stands up too, grabbing the headboard on his way up. It’s so dark, he’s struggling to figure out where everything is. “Tyler? Where’d you go?”
The room fills with whispers that all sound like hissing. Josh backs farther into the wall, shrinking. Maybe he can just disappear. Where’s everyone else? Why is no one else freaking out about this?
“You’ll pay...” a pair of bright red eyes appear in the middle of the room.
“Ty-Tyler?” Josh has stopped breathing.
“Avada Kadavra!” The room fills with green light and every inch of Josh’s body fills with pain.
Seconds later, Josh wakes up covered in sweat and gasping for air. Sunlight shines in through the windows and he blinks a couple of times. It was just a dream, just a dream...
The tips of his fingers and toes tingle. He feels awful.
“Nightmare?” asks a boy who’s digging through his trunk for a pair of socks. “You were muttering something, I wanted to wake you up but you don’t seem like you wanna be touched.”
“Oh uh, yeah. No, I’m fine.” Josh flops back onto his bed and sighs loudly.
-
That night, Josh darts up the stairs to the Gryffindor tower, his heat accelerating. Getting out of the Hufflepuff basement without being caught had proven rather difficult, what with all the adults he had watching him, and the idea of caretaker Filch finding him was not satisfying either.
When he gets there, Zack and Mark are standing right outside the portrait of the fat lady, who had been mumbling about the fact that Zack had woke her up only to stand right outside the common room.
“Psst,” Josh whispers as he approaches the two. Zack grins. “Okay, what’s so important that I had to risk getting caught to come up here?”
“Yeah,” Mark says, tapping his foot impatiently, “Let’s get a move on.”
“Okay look. There are other ways to get into Hogwarts... like, secret ways. Tunnels, actually.”
“What?”
“I’m serious. There’s seven in total. Now, the caretaker knows about four of them; one of them is completely blocked off, no one bothered to fix it, and one of them is underneath the whomping willow, so stay away from that one. But there’s one that leads to the basement of Honeydukes in Hogsmeade. They could be hiding in Hogsmeade and controlling Tyler right through that tunnel!” Zack exclaims as he tugs on Josh’s sleeve, beckoning the two to follow him. Mark grumbles under his breath as follows, probably about getting caught or something.
“Woah, wait, how on earth do you know this?” Josh pulls away in disbelief. Out of all people, it’s Zack that knows about Hogwart’s secrets.
“Some of the older kids. Things get around, ‘specially in the Gryffindor house.” he grins. “Okay, look. I’ll show you.”
Zack leads them to a statue of a one-eyed witch. “See here, you just tap the statute with your wand and say ‘Dissendium.’ Easy enough, right?”
“Yeah, sure,” Josh replies, wide eyed. He knows he should be terrified about the fact that a crazy person wanting to control the world with dark magic could be hiding in a tunnel underneath the school, but Josh finds himself also thinking that a secret tunnel would be the perfect place to hide and make out in. “You... you really think they could be hiding in there?”
“It would make the most sense to me.”
“You want to go into a secret tunnel now? Alone?” Mark gapes. “You guys, we can’t-”
“There’s no guarantee they’ll be there-”
“But still!”
“Mark, you said you were willing to help.” Josh turns to face the shaking Ravenclaw boy. “This is Tyler’s life we’re talking about. Doesn’t that mean anything?”
Mark huffs, but his face softens. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. We gotta save Tyler.”
“We’re gonna save my brother.” Zack closes his eyes for a few seconds and takes a deep breath through his nose. “Josh, you wanna do the honors?”
Josh faces the statue and whispers, “Dissendium,” tapping the stone with his wand. He’s shaking just a little bit, but the thing is, he’s not scared. If he dies, at least he died trying to save Tyler’s life. Tyler coming out okay is all he needs for this mission to be a success.
The three climb through the stone and topple down a slick, stone slide. At the end, they land on damp ground. “Lumos,” says Mark, and the tunnel fills with light. It’s low and muggy, and the atmosphere is eerie. Josh shivers.
Zack glances around. “Well, this is it alright. If you go far enough, you’ll end up in Hogsmeade.”
“And you think this is where the person controlling Tyler has been staying?” Mark seems skeptical about that idea.
“There’s other tunnels. They could be moving around underneath the school.”
“Jesus. Right under our noses.” Mark shakes his head and moves his wand farther, shadows dancing on the dirt walls.
“I think we should look around.” Josh pushes Mark forward a little bit, Zack in tow. They walk a few feet, stumbling on uneven ground, before Mark stops again, all the colour draining from his face.
“Shh,” he flings an arm out, stopping Josh and Zack from walking. They listen carefully.
“Footsteps?” mouths Zack. Mark looks as pale as a ghost.
“You boys are complete idiots.” Around a corner comes a hooded figure, the same one Josh saw dart out of the field, and...
Tyler.
His eyes are bright red, just like they had been in the hospital wing that night, just like they had been in Josh’s dream. Not only that, but his skin is pale, cheekbones hollow, and god, he looks so sick, like he’s ready to drop to the ground dead any second. Josh supposes that’s what happens when you’re being used for dark magic.
He knew Tyler was sick, but seeing him here makes Josh realize how real this situation is. He can’t afford to chicken out, not now. Josh takes a deep breath, withdraws his wand, and steps forward. “Leave Tyler alone.”
The hooded figure laughs and waves a hand.
“Crucio,” Tyler hisses, and in seconds Mark and Zack are writhing on the ground, screaming uncontrollably, in a blast of red light. Mark’s wand rolls down the tunnel, their only source of light turning their meeting into a thousand shadows.
Horrified, Josh points his wand at Tyler, but his hands are shaking so much that he can’t hold it steady. He realizes he might not be able to do anything. He can’t hurt Tyler. “How... how did you know we would be here?”
“Oh please, you stupid children are terrible at keeping things secret. I knew what was coming from the beginning.” they stumble a little, holding onto the wall like it’s their lifeline. “This cursed school has ruined everything the Dark Lord worked so hard to prepare for the world. It’s so great your friend here was so willing to participate.”
“You brainwashed him!”
“I did no such thing. He belongs to the dark side. Look at this boy. A descendant of Salazar Slytherin, a parselmouth, such a perfect choice. He was always so obsessed with discovering his passion. He was meant for something great, and here it is.”
“You’re never going to get away with this!” Josh yells, getting angrier by the second. “Tyler’s the nicest person I’ve ever met, he’ll never give up so easily.”
“It’s dumb kids like you that mess everything up.” they sigh, finally pulling back their hood to reveal a bald man with sickening pale skin, his eyes rimmed red. He looks terminally ill, even sicker than Tyler. It’s obvious the man is dying. “I might not be able to repay Lord Voldemort for all he has done for me, but I will certainly not die before I’m able to have Lord Voldemort’s legacy carried on.” the man waves his hand, and Tyler growls.
“Expulso!” the ground underneath Josh’s feet explodes, slamming him into a wall. Josh slumps to the ground with a groan and feels for his wand. Tyler’s back on him in seconds. “Incendio!”
“Incendio!” Josh manages to shout back seconds after, and two bolts of colour meet in the center. He scoots back a little, gripping his wand like a lifeline as the knockback sends Tyler spiraling into the dying man.
It must have taken him by surprise, because it breaks the Cruciatus curse just long enough for Mark and Zack to catch their breath.
“You will pay boy!” shouts the man as he hoists himself up with the wall. Tyler shoots another bolt, his teeth clenched, and Josh barely manages to roll out of the way. He takes a second to catch his breath as well. “You don’t know anything! You don’t understand how powerful we could be! I’m on my way out, but if you were to join the Joseph boy, think of all the power you would have! You’d be unstoppable. Carry on what Voldemort truly wanted!”
“It’s not about that! I don’t want to be powerful! And I will certainly not do anything for Voldemort!”
“Josh, look out!” Mark manages to push out of the way of a bolt, which hits him right in the stomach, and he flies twenty feet down the tunnel before rolling a couple of times. His arm lays at an odd angle and his eyes flop shut.
“MARK!” Josh screams, his eyes wide as he flips back to face Tyler. Zack hoists himself next to Josh and rests a hand on his shoulder.
“I’m here,” he whispers.
The man laughs heinously. “Family first, hmm?”
Zack points his wand forward at his older brother, his bottom lip trembling. “ Expelli-”
Before he can finish the spell, Zack gets thrown just as far as Mark, his head hitting a stone sticking out of the wall. He lands painfully next to the Ravenclaw boy, blood trailing down his forehead.
Josh takes a few steps back. This might be the end of all of this.
“Enough. I am done playing with you. What do you say? Are you willing to help bring back the Dark Lord’s work? Face it, you’ve lost. Lord Voldemort gave us everything. You could have everything you ever wanted.”
Josh squeezes his eyes shut and reminds himself to be brave. When he opens them, Tyler is standing there, his eyes still red, still full of malice and pain. He tilts his chin up just a little bit. “That’s where you're wrong mister, because there was one thing Lord Voldemort didn’t have, and that was love. Because that boy, no, man, you have control of, I love him more than anything in the world, and I will die loving him. I will die if it means he can be freed of this curse. Love is our only means of protection.” Josh finishes, straightens his posture, and suddenly, all his fear is gone. He’s come to terms with dying here. “Incen-”
“Expelliarmus!” Josh’s wand flies out of his hand and into Tyler’s, whose lips turn into a destructive grin.
“I am done playing games. Joseph, move out of the way, I want to do this.”
Josh does not cower. He stands taller and looks into Tyler’s eyes. “I love you Tyler. Please know that.”
“Avada Kedavra!” and in a blast of green light, everything goes black.
-
“Professor Mcgonagall, I don’t care what Madam Pomfrey has to say, he’s my best friend, and I’m going to sit here until he wakes up-”
“Mr. Eshleman, I‘m not going to fight you on this one, you should be attending class, studying for exams-”
“Oh come on, exams are two months away! We almost died by a crazy death eater who had Tyler brainwashed, not only that but he broke my arm, please Professor.”
She sighs. “Oh alright. You have an hour and then you have to leave, understand? He needs his rest. They both do.”
“Yes ma’am.” the bed creaks and there’s a hand on his leg.
“I’ll go talk to Pomfrey. I want no funny business Mr. Eshleman, understand?”
“Yes ma’am,” repeats Mark. Footsteps shuffle away, and Josh groans, his face grimaced in pain as he forces himself to sit up and open his eyes. “Jesus Josh, you’re okay!”
Josh looks around. Mark looks fine, he’s grinning, and his arm is back to normal. In the bed next to him is Tyler, who’s got a nasty cut running through his eyebrow. He doesn’t look like he’s woken up yet, but his breaths are calm and it settles the pit in Josh’s stomach. “What the hell happened?”
“After Tyler flung me halfway down the tunnel, I passed out for a little bit, because pain, like dude, the bone came out of my arm,” Mark shakes his head in disbelief and rolls up the sleeve of his robe to show Josh the ragged red scar. “Pomfrey fixed it, but the scar’s still there. Anyways, I like, woke up a little I guess, because I heard that guy use the killing curse, and next thing I know Tyler’s shoving you out of the way and the whole tunnel is covered in green light. And that guy, he, he... he turned into ash. So then Tyler passed out, and I made my way back to Hogwarts, which God was really hard to do with a broken arm, and I found McGonagall. She and a few other teachers went down the tunnel to find you. So now they know about the tunnel, whoops, but I feel like they secretly already knew about it anyways.” Mark shrugs. “Zack’s okay too, all he has is a bruise and a small cut. He’s probably back in Gryffindor Tower; it’s been a few days.”
“A few days?” Josh’s mouth drops as he pushes himself farther up the bed. “Seriously?”
“You were passed out for a long time man. I guess being that close to death really put a toll on you. Tyler too, although he looks a bit more healthier, right?” Mark takes a moment to look at Tyler sleeping next to them. He’s right; Tyler’s skin is a bit tanner, his eyes aren’t as hollow, and he doesn’t seem to be in as much pain. “We’re waiting for him to wake up. Pomfrey’s not sure how long that’ll take though. Hopefully soon. I think soon. You know, Tyler’s a fighter.”
“He sure is,” replies Josh as he takes another look at Tyler next to him. “What’s everyone else saying? Do they know?”
“McGonagall tried to keep most of it secret, and everyone already knew Tyler was really sick, but it might of slipped that you survived the killing curse...”
“But it never actually hit me. Tyler pushed me out of the way, do people know that?”
Mark grins. “Nope. They’re calling you the new Harry Potter.”
Josh scowls.
“Don’t worry big guy, the teachers are giving you a two week extension on all the homework you missed.”
“Oh, how thoughtful.”
“That’s what I said.” Mark’s grin grows bigger, and suddenly he’s wrapping his arms around Josh tightly. In surprise, Josh lets his arms hang limply at his sides. Mark had never really hugged him before.
“Are you...? You’re hugging me.”
“Yeah,” Mark says, “I am. Because I’m glad you’re alive, and I’m even more glad that you’re my friend. You’re the most badass Hufflepuff I’ve ever met.”
Even though he’s blushing, Josh finally manages to wrap his arms around Mark’s torso and squeezes him back.
Their conversation ends only minutes later when Madam Pomfrey kicks Mark out and tells Josh to get some rest. She was keeping him over the weekend, just to make sure his vitals were okay and he wasn’t going to pass out the minute he had to walk. Mark and Zack pop in to say hello; Mark was right, Zack does have a pretty nasty bruise on his forehead, but he’s parading around with his head held high and his chest puffed up, fabricating stories about how he beat up a follower of Voldemort (Nobody believes him.) They come to check in on Tyler too, who still hasn’t woken up yet. They’re hopeful though. After all they went through, they have enough in them to be hopeful.
Josh even gets a visit from Professor Longbottom, who brings him a flower. It’s huge, with pink petals, and he lays it in Josh’s lap.
“When I was younger,” he starts, looking off into the distance like he’s thinking really hard. “I was the most cowardly person in the whole world. The older I got, and the longer I was at this school, I realized my true potential. I found my bravery, and realized why I was put in the Gryffindor house all along. You Josh, you’ve always been one of my favourite students, mostly because I saw a lot of potential in you, and you reminded me of myself in a number of ways.” he smiles. “I fought in the war against Voldemort and his followers. My courage in that fight shaped who I am today. And I hope you can learn from what happened to you and apply it in the future.”
“Thank you for telling me that Professor. That means a lot.”
Longbottom patted Josh’s knee. “I know you don’t really hate Herbology. Deep down, you love it. ‘Sides, you’re a Hufflepuff. You’re good at it.”
Josh only shakes his head.
-
Sunday evening, Tyler wakes up.
He shifts, head pounding, as he comes to his senses. Tyler doesn’t remember much. He keeps seeing flashes of green light like it’s branded on the back of his eyelids and his entire body feels sore.
Tyler lets out a loud cough and props himself up onto his elbows. The room is covered in low light, and as his eyes adjust, he comes to the conclusion that he’s the only one in the room.
Until, “Tyler?”
He knows that warm, velvety voice like the back of his hand. Josh stares at him with wide, watering eyes, and the next thing he knows, Josh is hugging him so tightly he can’t breathe. He’s crying too, sobbing so hard Tyler can’t understand a word he’s saying.
“Hey buddy, relax a little. I have no clue what you’re trying to say.”
Josh sits up and sniffs, wiping his nose with his hand. He keeps looking at Tyler like he can’t believe he’s alive. It puts an uneasy pit in his stomach. “I’m so happy you’re okay. I’m so happy that you’re alive.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh do you...? You don’t remember, do you?”
“Last thing I really remember is Christmas break. Why, what happened? Why am I in the infirmary?”
“Tyler, you were... you were being controlled by an old Death Eater. He was using your energy to try and bring back Voldemort’s legacy. He wanted you to start a new generation of Death Eaters.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Tyler rubs at his forehead. He can’t believe this. “What? Why me? Why-” he pauses abruptly when it hits him. “The snake. I spoke to him. I spoke in Parseltongue. And the book from Slughorn’s office, also Parseltongue... Oh my God.” he feels like he’s about to faint, and Josh seems to notice, because he reaches out a hand to steady him.
“It’s okay Ty, I don’t think that’s going to bother you anymore. Voldemort’s gone, remember? And hopefully all ties to him as well. I overheard the teachers talking about it.” Tyler relaxes a bit and sighs.
“I suppose part of this is my fault. I always had an interest in doing stuff I wasn’t supposed to, and the dark arts were no exception.”
“Except you didn’t give in Tyler, because you had the one thing strong enough to break the curse: love. You saved my life.”
Green light flashes behind his eyelids again and he finally knows what it means. “The Killing Curse? I... I broke out of the spell to save you?”
“Yeah. Mark, Zack and I, we made a plan to try and save you. Zack is really brave Tyler; he faced a Death Eater and got thrown down a tunnel. Not only that, but he saved us from a fiery death, and showed us the way to where you and the Death Eater were. He’s even got the bruises to prove it. Your brother loves you more than you could ever know.”
Tyler blinks. Zack did that all for him? Suddenly his petty jealousy for his brother the Gryffindor didn’t seem worth it anymore. “I can’t believe the three of you risked your lives to save me. Especially you Josh, I can only imagine the amount of rules you had to break-”
Josh interrupts him with a scoff; his cheeks are flushed red and he ducks his head so all his long shaggy hair falls in his face. Tyler reaches out to tilt Josh’s chin up. There’s something different about Josh. He’s braver, wiser, more confident about himself.
“When’s the last time we kissed?”
“Second week in December,” he murmurs. Tyler pulls the older boy into his lap and kisses him hard, putting as much passion into it as he can, because he loves Josh more than anything in the whole world. It hadn’t been him that broke the curse; it was the love he shared for the Hufflepuff boy.
A hand snakes around Josh’s waist. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
-
“Oh come on Professor, you gotta let me play! It’s been a month!” Tyler chases after Professor McGonagall across the grounds of the school with his broomstick in his hand. McGonagall sighs, this is the third him he’s asked her, and she’s probably getting very annoyed, but for the first time there’s a slight grin on her face.
“Pomfrey doesn’t think it’s the best idea Mr. Joseph, you have been bedridden for several months-”
“I’m caught up on all my homework, I’m studying for our exams, and I feel fine, oh please let me play, please!”
She sighs again. “Okay, okay. I suppose one game won’t kill you.” her smirk widens, and Tyler’s darting across to the Quidditch pitch to join his team. He’s ecstatic; a successful Quidditch practice is the final puzzle piece in getting his life back together.
The entire Slytherin team had visited him while he was in the infirmary, exclaiming how much they missed him, how awful it was without him as their captain, and how they couldn’t wait for him to come back.
“We lost to Ravenclaw, but if we come back against Hufflepuff, we still might have a chance at winning the cup. Get better soon, okay?”
He had talked to Zack too, apologizing about fifty times for his behaviour, and thanking his younger brother for saving his life. The conversation had ended in a hug, which was a huge achievement for their relationship.
Josh is sitting in the stands when Tyler walks out onto the pitch. He’s met with excitement and pats on the back (“She’s letting you play? Finally!”) Josh is grinning too.
That morning, Tyler soars.
Later, Josh drags Tyler down a corridor and to a statue of a witch with one eye. He can’t stop smiling, which makes Tyler extremely suspicious.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” he replies, pulling out his wand. Josh taps the statue, murmurs “Dissendium,” and right before his eyes a hole appears in the stone. Josh pulls on his wrist again, and down they go. They walk for a good while amongst dirt walls before Josh stops him.
“If you go down far enough, you’ll end up in the Honeydukes cellar. Thought maybe we could go get some sweets and a glass of butterbeer or something.”
Tyler smirks. “Sneaking around, breaking the rules? What have you done with Josh Dun?”
Josh rolls his eyes. “Oh hush. You were right. It’s nice not having to worry about everything all the time.”
Tyler chuckles a little. “Yeah, I’d like that.” he watches the older boy take a step away from him and run fingertips along the dampened dirt wall.
“You know, this is where it happened.” Tyler knows exactly what Josh is talking about. He clears his throat.
“Really?” Josh looks lost, and Tyler assumes he’s remembering, running through the horrible events that took place.
“Yeah. Mark and Zack got knocked unconscious, and I thought I was going to die. But I didn’t.” Josh pushes Tyler against the wall and kisses him. It’s soft, warm, and Josh tastes like cinnamon.
When Josh pulls away, he’s grinning, his face the colour of strawberries. “What was that for?”
“We’re meant for each other, you know that?”
Tyler takes his hand and pulls him further down the tunnel. “I’ve always known that.”
-
“Dude, you know you’re a Hufflepuff right?” Mark says when Josh shows up to the Quidditch match with bright green hair. He grins.
“Of course I know that, and it would be fantastic if we won, but Tyler’s playing you know, so...”
Zack scoffs. “You’re crazy Josh.”
“You’re just salty because Gryffindor lost to Hufflepuff.”
“I would have caught that stupid snitch if I had been there a second early and you know it!”
Mark hushes him as he pulls out his ratty pair of binoculars. “Dudes, hush. It’s already proven that Gryffindor isn’t going to win the House Cup this year, so get over it.”
“Well it’s not going to be Ravenclaw either,” Zack mutters.
“You don’t know that,” Mark shoots back. “Look, the game is starting, so be quiet, okay?”
The stands fill with cheering as the game begins. Josh watches Tyler the whole time as he zip high into the clouds, showing off with a couple loop-de-loops, and catches the snitch almost ten minutes into the game. The Slytherin team puts him on their shoulders, raising him high into the air.
When Tyler joins the three of them, Josh doesn’t waste a single second before he’s swooping Tyler in for a kiss. Mark pretends to vomit and Zack gags, but the two don’t care.
“Hey, your hair’s green!” Tyler grins.
“You won! You won!” Josh cheers, and this time, Tyler kisses him.
-
The rest of the year is a whirlwind of papers, exams, and adventure, thanks to Josh. They meet in the library almost every night, where Mark makes them study and review for hours on end.
“Come on Tyler, one last time! It’s not even that hard-”
After almost two hours of Transfiguration review, Tyler finally breaks. “That’s easy for you to say Mark, you’ll pass this exam with far over a hundred percent.” he pushes his chair out loudly. “I need a break.”
“You just wanna go make out with Josh.”
“That’s exactly what I wanna go do.”
“I did almost die you know,” Josh says. Mark groans.
“Stop using that as an excuse!”
“We’ll see you tomorrow Mark,” Tyler shouts over his shoulder as he pulls Josh around the corner and out of the library, grinning at the shoosh the librarian shoots at him.
“Don’t blame me when you fail all your exams!” Mark yells back, stacking all their papers together. The librarian shushes him too.
They walk for a while, past students and ghosts and paintings traveling between frames. Somehow, they find themselves outside, and with a glance back at the castle, Josh slips his hand into Tyler’s. He takes a deep breath and tilts his head up towards the dark sky. The stars twinkle, there’s so many of them, and it never fails to take his breath away.
“I wish I could go up there someday,” Josh whispers. Tyler squeezes his hand.
“Someday you might.” he sighs. “Josh, do you have nightmares? About that night?”
“We don’t have to keep talking about this.” Josh pulls away from his grasp and sits down in the grass. He starts pulling strands up and lets them fall through his fingers.
“No, I wanna talk about it. Josh, you almost died, and it was completely my fault.” Tyler lays down next to him and stares up at the sky.
“It wasn’t your fault Ty. How could you have known-”
“It is my fault because I became obsessed with finding out who I truly was and what my purpose was. You know how stressed out I was being in the Slytherin house and having to hear how proud my father was of Zack. I know my dad was disappointed in me. I let that stupid hat’s words get to me and that’s what put us in this situation. I started to feel like maybe being, well, evil, was what I was supposed to do, and that’s why I got pulled in so easily. Thing is, I was always interested in finding out more about the Dark Arts. That’s why my marks are so high in Steward’s class: if I could learn all the ways people defend themselves, I could work around it.” he sighs loudly. “Knowing I have dark blood running through my veins, knowing I’m a parselmouth, it sort of just, it confirmed my theory, you know?”
“You aren’t evil Tyler. You’re far from evil.” Josh rolls over and props himself on an elbow. Tyler looks at him. Josh’s eyes always get to him, dammit. Right now, they’re big and brown and sort of glittering under the moonlight. “You broke out of a dark curse using love. Do you know how hard it is to break out of curses man?”
“Yeah? Well you threatened a crazy Death Eater using me as their puppet and accepted that maybe you were going to die, do you know how crazy that is, man?”
“I’d do anything for you. You’re my best friend.” Josh smiles, and Tyler finds himself falling in love all over again. He pushes in and swoops down for a kiss, settling down on top of Josh. Hands grip his waist, Tyler’s own bury in Josh’s wild hair, and for five straight minutes, they’re a mess of hot breaths and moans.
Josh, for once, is yanking at his own tie. “If you wanna do more, you can. Please, actually.”
Tyler’s panting when a toothy grin rises to his lips. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” replies Josh.
Above them, the stars dance.
-
The end of the year feast is always one of Tyler’s favourite things, even if that means he isn’t going to be able to see Josh for a few months. It’s the atmosphere that makes him so happy; everyone celebrates being finished with exams, friends are exchanging contact information and making summer plans, and everything seems alright.
This year, Tyler is especially happy, because Slytherin won the house cup, and the hall is decorated with green and silver. There’s even a large banner of a serpent hanging behind the high table. Tyler couldn’t be prouder; even coming close to death couldn’t stop him from winning.
He catches Josh’s eye right as Professor McGonagall stands up to address the students, and grins when Josh ducks his head.
“What a year it’s been,” her voice is calm and collected, and her smile is big. All of other teachers are grinning as well. “All of you are tremendous and your intelligence is beyond extraordinary. I hope you start next year with just as much enthusiasm as this year contained. Now to address the house cup - in fourth place with three hundred and forty two points is Ravenclaw, in third with four hundred and six points is Hufflepuff, in second with four hundred and sixty four point is Gryffindor, and Slytherin, with four hundred and seventy eight, in first.”
The Slytherin table interrupts McGonagall with loud cheering and stamping; Tyler shouts the loudest and his smile grows bigger when he sees Josh cheering for them.
“Of course, congratulations Slytherin, on an outstanding comeback this year. I do however, have a few more points to hand out, as do a couple of the teachers up here.” The tables break out in murmurs and Tyler’s smile falters. He shares a look of confusion with the rest of the Slytherins. McGonagall continues. “We haven’t had much trouble at this school in quite some time, but this year seemed to be when our luck ran out. I’m sure you’ve heard your fair share of rumours, and this doesn’t happen often, but...” she trails off for a second, looking up at the stars dancing across the bewitched ceiling. “First to Mr. Mark Eshleman for his wit and creativity in saving the lives of three boys, and all with a broken arm, I award fifty points to Ravenclaw.”
The Ravenclaw table breaks out into cheers as Mark’s face turns tomato red. He’s grinning as everyone pats him on the back. Tyler gives a loud cheer for Mark as well.
“Second to Mr. Zack Joseph, for his bravery and maturity in saving his brother’s life, I award fifty points to Gryffindor.” It’s the Gryffindor table’s turn to cheer this time, and Zack’s face turns just as red as Mark’s. For the first time ever, Tyler isn’t jealous of his brother. He’s proud of him.
“Third, to Mr. Joshua Dun, for his determination, confidence, dedication, and courage, I award sixty points to the Hufflepuff house.” The table full of black and yellow explodes into cheers louder than any of the other tables, and Josh buries his head in his arms. Tyler practically jumps up from the table, clapping so hard his hands are sore and screaming so loud his voice is hoarse.
“Professor Longbottom would like to say a few things as well,” McGonagall continues, her smile still strong. The Professor stands up and the room goes silent. Even Josh picks his head up to watch.
“Mr. Dun showed us this year that anyone willing to put in the work can do anything they set their mind to, and his strength, bravery, and kindness has inspired me every day. I would like to award him another sixty points.” Everyone is cheering for the Hufflepuffs this time, with the exception of the Slytherin table, where Tyler is the only one screaming about the fact that they are no longer in the lead. He doesn’t give a damn.
Professor Slughorn stands up next. “Mr. Dun also showed us that the strongest thing in the world, and perhaps the hardest, is to love even when you seem to be down on luck, and for that I would like to award him twenty points.”
Tyler grabs Dan next to him. “Hufflepuff is in the lead, Hufflepuff IS IN THE LEAD!” Dan scowls, and Tyler jumps a good two feet off the ground.
When Slughorn sits down, McGonagall stands back up and clears her throat. “Lastly, to Mr. Tyler Joseph, I award ten points, for showing Hogwarts how important family and friends are here. Congratulations boys on your outstanding achievements.” There is one more collective cheer; The Slytherin table is moody now, obviously angered with the sudden change in events, all besides Tyler, who is shaking with glee. “I believe a change in colour is needed, hmm?” With a clap of her hands, green and silver turns to black and yellow, and for the first time in forever, Josh feels like he matters in the world. It’s the first time in almost eight years that Hufflepuff has won the House Cup.
The banner of the serpent changes into one of a badger, and that night, Tyler leaves his table to feast right next to Josh, smiling as they hold hands under the table.
It is a night both of them know they will never forget.
-
With wardrobes empty, trunks packed, and tearful goodbyes, the boys sixth year at Hogwarts was finally coming to an end. They sit next to each other on the train, with Mark and Zack; Mark spends the whole time exclaiming how excited he is to see a computer again, (“I’m going to spend an entire month editing,” he says giddily,) and Zack asks Tyler if he’ll give him some pointers for Quidditch next year.
“Course I will, but you’ll never beat me,” Tyler winks, and Zack rolls his eyes.
They change out of robes into jeans and t-shirts; Josh is wearing a shirt with a band name on it and he laughs when Tyler asks why on earth anyone would be blinking one hundred and eighty two times. (“Do you do that all at once, or throughout the day? I suppose over time that wouldn’t be hard at all...”)
“I’ve got great news,” Josh says as they wait to leave platform nine and three quarters. “My family is going back over to the states during the summer. New York City. And uhm... they got an extra ticket. Wanted to know if you would possibly wanna come with us.”
Tyler’s eyes grow wide. “What? Seriously?”
“Yeah! I could show you all the weird No-Maj things my family does. We’d be taking a plane to New York-”
Tyler interrupts with his nose crinkled in confusion. “A what?”
Josh grins. “Exactly. And my drumkit! I got a real one now, you’re going to love it.”
“I can’t wait.”
“Tyler!” Zack calls, pointing a thumb behind him, “Dad’s here! Time to go!”
“Just a sec!” Tyler turns back to face Josh and looks him over one last time. And amongst all the people, he makes the decision to lean forward and kiss Josh.
Josh squeaks in surprise, (as he often does,) but melts into the wall behind him, not even caring that there are people all around them. In fact, Josh doesn’t even notice them.
“I love you.”
“I love you too. We can video call later, okay? I’ll send you the details about the trip, my parents wrote letters and stuff, I’m going to show them how to deliver by owl.”
“Good, good, you do that.”
“Tyler come on!” Zack yells again.
Tyler leans in to kiss Josh on the cheek one last time and smiles big. “I’ll see you soon?”
Josh nods. “You’ll see me soon.”
“Good.” And with one more “I love you” from each boy, Tyler joins Zack as they walk through the wall back into the No-Maj train station, where their family stands. Their mother has Maddy in her arms and Jay attached to her leg.
“Busy year boys?” asks their father. Tyler and Zack share a grin.
“You have no idea.”