Work Text:
Amortentia with a Slytherin. Perfect.
Harry looked around, trying to find the least horrible option before Snape stepped in and forced him to brew with someone. With his luck, it would be Malfoy.
Hermione had already joined Blaise Zabini. And Ron had gotten stuck with Pansy. Snape was headed Harry’s way when a boy he had hardly ever noticed before slid into the seat next to him. He had dark hair, the curls making it nearly as wild as Harry’s own. His eyes were a deep blue that Harry had the disconcerting feeling he could fall into if he let himself.
“I’ve got this one, Professor Snape,” the boy said confidently.
The Professor sneered and said, “I hope you plan to make Amortentia by yourself then, Mister Nott. I wouldn’t trust Potter near the cauldron if I were you.”
“Learning is what we’re in class for though, isn’t it, Professor?” Mister Nott asked, the snark covered by an innocent tone. Professor Snape was clearly not convinced as he started toward them with a look on his face that spoke of danger.
“Professor Snape!” Pansy whined loudly. “This cretin already messed up our ingredients!”
With one last glance their way, the Professor spun, cloak billowing around him, and marched over to Ron and Pansy.
Harry wracked his brain trying to remember what “Mister Nott”’s first name might be. He was such a quiet Slytherin that Harry hadn’t had a reason to ever know it.
“I’m Theo,” the boy said. “Can you gather the ingredients while I set up the cauldron? The temperature has to be just right for this.”
“Yeah,” Harry said, surprised at the command. Somehow he had expected his new companion to follow his lead since he clearly wasn’t a leader normally.
That was soon proven incorrect as Theo guided them through the process of the potion. Harry enjoyed it. Calmly adding this or that when told to, chopping and slicing and squishing and squeezing the ingredients while Theo stirred.
“Now. You’ll add precisely 7 drops of flobberworm mucus — it’s the binding agent — while I stir vigorously. Too few and the potion won’t give us the right scents, one too many and we’ll be compelled to go around sniffing people until we find the person our potion smells like,” Theo said.
Mortified at the thought of that embarrassment, Harry began, counting each drop under his breath to ensure he got it right.
As he got to the sixth drop, Harry and Theo were both distracted by a shout.
“Thomas, you’ve screwed up our potion!” Draco Malfoy decreed. “All I can smell is the stench of a mudblood.” His eyes were on Hermione.
Harry felt his blood starting to boil, but Hermione very sweetly stepped forward and sniffed at Malfoy’s cauldron.
“Hmmm. Freshly mown grass. New parchment. Spearmint toothpaste. I think you have made perfect Amortentia, Malfoy,” she stated.
The whole class gasped at the implication as Malfoy spluttered. “It certainly is not!”
“Actually,” Professor Snape said with a strange look at the Malfoy heir, “Miss Granger’s assessment is correct. You have brewed a superior batch of Amortentia, Mister Malfoy. See me after class.”
Malfoy’s cheeks were burning and Harry desperately wanted to taunt him, but suddenly he heard his deskmate curse softly.
“What—” Harry began, only to realize that the dropper of flobberworm mucus in his hand was now empty, and Theo had stopped stirring entirely at some point. “Oh Merlin.”
Theo was valiantly trying to correct the damage by stirring some more, but the potion was too thick for it.
“We’ve made a mess of it, haven’t we?” Harry asked morosely. It had been going so well for once.
Theo nodded. “All I smell is us,” he commented.
Taking a whiff, Harry agreed, “Me, too.” But Harry felt something else, too. That compulsion Theo had spoken of — he wasn’t going to have to go sniffing people, was he? He already knew it smelled like Theo.
Still, he leaned forward until his nose was in the crook of Theo’s neck. The other boy was taller, so Harry had to stand on his tiptoes to reach. He could hear Theo’s sharp intake of breath as he sniffed Harry, too.
As Harry dropped his hand to the side, his fingers skimmed the top of the potion, coating the tips of his finger in their botched Amortentia.
In a trance, Harry brought his fingers up, looking up now at Theo, and reaching up as though to touch his cheek.
“We can’t,” Theo started, but his own hand had closed around Harry’s, smearing the potion across both their hands.
Theo gasped as Harry began to feel his hand tingling and golden ropes of magic bound their hands together.
“What—?” Harry started, but then Theo’s lips were on his and there were no more thoughts.
Suddenly, Harry felt a hand jerking him back by the robes and realized Theo was experiencing the same as they were pulled apart.
“What is the meaning of this?” Professor Snape demanded.
Theo looked a little dazed as he said, “Amortentia, sir.”
“Obviously,” Snape drawled. “Did you drink it?”
“No,” Theo said and held up their hands, still bound together.
Professor Snape gaped at them. “That is… not possible.”
“I think you’re wrong,” Harry said, stating the obvious.
“What does it mean? Are we stuck together like this? Should we go see Madam Pomfrey?” Theo asked nervously.
“You’re certainly stuck together,” Professor Snape snickered, “but not like that.” With a simple spell, their hands were unbound, but Harry swore he still felt connected to Theo.
“I don’t understand, sir,” Theo said. The nervous tone of his voice had only increased and Harry wasn’t sure why.
“I think you do,” Professor Snape said, his face having morphed into something more serious.
“What is it?” Harry asked, trying to understand what Theo and the Professor were getting at.
“We’re married,” Theo stated, tone dazed.
Harry’s jaw dropped. “What? We can’t be!”
“There was far too much binding agent in the potion. Just the fumes made us…” Theo trailed off, blushing.
“But kissing doesn’t make us married,” Harry argued, face red.
“No, but putting the potion on our hands and joining them like that did the job,” Theo explained. “That’s what the cords of magic were all about. Like at weddings.”
“I’ve never been to a wedding,” Harry stated.
“Never?” Theo asked. “Hasn’t anyone in your family—”
“I don’t really have a family,” Harry muttered.
Theo blinked. “But you’re Harry Potter.”
Harry sighed. “I think there may be a lot of things you don’t know about Harry Potter.”
“Well I guess since we’re married, I should find out,” Theo said with a timid grin.
“What? You can’t be serious! We have to find some way to break this,” he argued.
Theo just shook his head. “We can’t, Potter. The gold binding meant it was a true match.”
“What does that mean?” Harry asked, feeling just as nervous as Theo now.
Theo bit his lip, ignoring the fact that the classroom had gone quiet around them, everyone leaning in to listen. “It means we are meant for each other.”
“But we’re only fifteen!” Harry cried. He was feeling absolutely panicked now.
“Magic doesn’t care,” Theo said with a worried frown.
“I care,” Harry replied. He was calmed by a hand on his shoulder. Hermione had appeared behind him.
“Harry, just because you’re married doesn’t mean you have to do anything about it anytime soon,” she said.
“Unless you want to,” Theo said, waggling his eyebrows.
“Not helping,” Ron said, from his spot behind Hermione. “Why did it have to be a snake?” he grumbled.
“They’re a true match, Ronald. We don’t always get to pick who is right for us, not when magic is involved,” Hermione lectured.
“And you are okay with that?” Harry asked, stunned.
Hermione shook her head. “I didn’t say it was right. Just that it’s how things work. My understanding is that when it happens by accident like this, it would have had good odds of happening and working at some point in the future anyway. The magic just helps things along.”
“Class is dismissed. No one is to say a word about what happened here,” Professor Snape commanded, clearly done hearing about this.
“So what do you say, Potter, want to go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?” Theo asked nervously as they gathered their things and began walking out.
“How do we know I’m still a Potter if we’re married?” Harry asked, buying time to think.
“Well I doubt you want to be a Nott. And Merlin knows I would rather be a Potter,” Theo declared quietly.
“Really?” Harry asked, raising his eyebrows. He would have expected the pureblood to be proud of his heritage.
Theo looked him in the eyes. “You know who my father is and who he follows. This wasn’t how I planned to get out of joining the ranks, but I’m not unhappy about the easy out. Can I move in with you this summer, husband?”
“That could be complicated,” Harry said, thinking of the Dursleys.
Hermione came to the rescue. “But Harry has a godfather you could stay with. I’m sure he would help.”
“Hermione… we can’t tell anyone about… Snuffles.”
“Theo is your husband, Harry,” Hermione argued at the same time Theo asked, “You have a godfather named Snuffles?”
“Yes,” Harry responded firmly, to both thoughts. The more he became used to the idea of Theo as his husband, the more he liked it. They were young, too young. But having the other boy in his life… maybe it was just the amortentia talking, but Harry couldn’t stop himself from liking the idea. “I don’t know how this is going to work, but I think we can keep you safe from your father if you are sure you want to… to be with me.”
Theo nodded vigorously, obviously relieved. “So… Hogsmeade?”
“Yeah. I think that would be a good place to start,” Harry said with a smile.