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It came as a surprise to no one when Zachary Fox was sorted into Slytherin.
Coming from a family of purebloods, although with not as much renown as the Malfoys, the Blacks, or the Notts, his last name dictated pretty much everything he was meant to be. Cunning, stealthy, and lethal as a fox, taking every chance to strike at the most favourable opportunity. Every Fox before him had been a Slytherin, and he was expected to follow such an example.
He was 11 when the Sorting Hat got placed in his head, patched and burnt around the edges, and he was blessed with two seconds of suspense until the hat, in all of its dramatic glory, yelled "SLYTHERIN!" for all the hall to hear. He got up, walked up to the green-clad table, and was welcomed into the house by all the older snakes, who took him under their wing like a duck would do a duckling.
A short, sun-kissed, glasses-wearing Latino boy got sorted next into the snake house and sat next to him. He recalled, faintly, that this boy was called Mendoza something by Headmistress McGonagall, but that's all he knew of his newly appointed housemate. Mendoza got sorted after one girl, dainty and ephemeral, almost like a fairy, whom McGonagall called. "Longbottom, Pomona." she said, and the petite girl stepped to the hat, stood still for a few seconds, and then the shout of "GRYFFINDOR!" was heard everywhere, accompanied by the loud cheering of the Herbology professor, Professor Longbottom.
The feast started after a few congratulatory words from Headmistress McGonagall, and soon after, all the houses were being herded like obedient little sheep to their dorms by each house's prefects. Hufflepuffs went down to the kitchens, and Slytherins went down even further, while the golden children taking part in the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw entourages went up to the towers. All the first years got pointed to where they would be sleeping, reunited with their belongings and reminded that their owls, should they have one, were in the owlery. Everything was a blurry mess for a few moments while all the fresh Slytherins claimed a bed, and Zachary was once again seeing Mendoza on his right. There was no time to dwell on the boy, however, before everyone was called back to the common room for a few words from their Head of House.
Rumours had run rampant ever since the second retirement of Professor Slughorn, who had taken the place of the late Professor Snape as Head of Slytherin House. The old professor claimed that he had taught all he had to teach and that his time at Hogwarts had met its end long before. The rumour mill said that he was only guarding the spot until a new professor joined the ranks of Hogwarts, who would take the mantle of protector for all the snakes, old and new.
There was an excited murmur going around the common room by the time Zachary joined the party with his fellow roommates, everyone having their theories as to who was going to be their sole protector in the field war that was the Rivalry of Houses in Hogwarts. Some said that the retirement of Slughorn had been a fluke, or that Headmistress McGonagall had managed to convince the old man to stay within the school. Others were more unbelievable, with some even saying that Hagrid, the half-giant who taught Care of Magical Creatures since the times of Harry Potter, would be taking the role of Head of House.
Even Mendoza, all wide-eyed and excited to learn of this new professor, had turned around and asked Zachary, in an accented voice, for his opinion, as if his words held the utmost truth over everyone else's.
"Who do you think is this new teacher, Zachary?" he asked, his pronunciation slightly butchered when saying 'teacher', leeching off his, apparent, knowledge of all things interesting in the inner workings of Hogwarts.
He had to disappoint, however. With a mere shrug of his shoulders, he scanned the room packed with expectant students and returned his gaze to the wondering face of Mendoza with a bored expression. "Beats me."
A lull fell in the room once the door to the dorms opened, and everyone turned their curious eyes to the sound. Not even a breath was let out while the steps of the new professor got closer and closer to the common room, and once the figure of his Head of House was visible in all of their glory, a collective gasp was heard.
Because there, before every Slytherin studying at Hogwarts that year, was the infamous Draco Malfoy.
Draco Malfoy, in all of his perfect glory. With long, blonde, almost white hair tied at the middle of his back. With clothes that wore not a single wrinkle, black all the way through, as if the pale skin of his professor had been swallowed by an endless void. With perfect posture, his hands clasped in front of his body, his left hand obscured by his right.
And, visible only to those who paid close attention, the small visage of a ring decorating his annular finger peeking through the gap in the fingers that his right hand left.
The thing that caught the attention of everyone in Slytherin, however, was the sleeves of the black shirt that had been folded at the elbows.
Letting the Dark Mark be shown to all without a shame in the world.
"Judging by your reactions," Malfoy started, his voice a low drawl as his silver, icy eyes scanned the room, "I'm assuming you already know who I am. For those of you unaware of my person, however… My name is Draco Lucius Malfoy. I'll be your Potions Professor and Head of House starting this year."
Scandalised whispers started everywhere at that, as if his words had shattered a silencing charm imposed on all of them, and Zachary had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Had the late Professor Snape not been a former Death Eater, as well? And yet, he had been the most trusted person by Dumbledore, entrusted with the hard task of orchestrating his death. Harry Potter himself spoke in defence of Professor Snape, saying that his actions had been those of undying trust and loyalty, and should not be criticised for making a choice no human on earth would want to make.
At his right, Mendoza asked, confused, why everyone seemed so scared of this professor, and Zachary had to envy his ignorance of the terror that had covered Wizarding Britain for 60 long years.
Death Eater or not, his only concern with Draco Malfoy was seeing if he would be a good professor. If he would guide him through his path to greatness with no doubt, if he would see him true until the destiny that had been laid down for him could become his at last.
A harsh voice in the back of his head reminded him that he was only 11 years old and that he had his whole life ahead of him to decide his destiny, but he shushed it just as harshly.
Thinking like that would take him nowhere.
Zachary had to wonder, however, what that ring on his finger entailed.
There had been no reports of the Malfoy heir getting engaged or married.
Aunt Stephanie had warned him that no secret ever stayed a secret in Hogwarts, and that's why he was not surprised when the next morning at breakfast, every conversation that reached his ears had the name 'Draco Malfoy' uttered somewhere in it.
Mendoza, who had taken to trailing after him like a lost puppy, sat down next to him with a confused expression on his face, taking off his glasses to clean them when the steam of the warm food had fogged them over.
"I still don't know why everyone is so… surprised with this guy," he struggled to come up with a word to explain his feelings in the middle of his sentence, and, by the look that had taken over his face, he wasn't pleased with the word he had used.
Zachary sighed, wondering when he had accepted the role of mentor for this transfer student, but he supposed that answering his questions would be the easier route to take.
"He's an ex-Death Eater," he started explaining, filling his plate with warm French toast and some fruit, "They were the followers of Voldemort. You know who Voldemort is, don't you?"
Mendoza nodded, frowning at the food offered for his breakfast before reaching for the cereal— something that had been recently implemented in the Hogwarts menu, claiming to be something to make Muggleborn students feel more at home—, his plate changing to a bowl.
"Big bad villain, right? Back in Mexico, he wasn't really talked about. We have worse issues to worry about than some guy in England. And he died before I was born, so I also don't know that much," his accented voice answered, his hands busy with mixing every cereal in one tiny bowl. Zachary had to force himself to not openly show his disgust at seeing Lucky Charms and All-Bran mixed together like it was normal.
"I just know he would've thrown the biggest fit at knowing he wasn't the number one priority there," he mused instead, watching with terrified fascination as Mendoza sealed the deal of his monstrous cereal mix by adding Honey Nut Cheerios. And then chocolate milk, like some sort of troglodyte would do.
"So what's the big deal, then?" Mendoza asked, taking a spoonful of his disgusting concoction and somehow not grimacing in the process, "He's not bad anymore, so why hate him? If he's teaching here then Miss McGono– McGonagall has to know he's a good guy." he concluded rather matter-of-factly, despite his close butchering of Headmistress McGonagall's last name, shrugging his shoulders and continuing eating as if his food wouldn't cause more than one person a stroke.
Zachary was envious of how black-and-white Mendoza saw the world. Of how there wasn't any grey in his worldview as of yet. He was sure that, with him being a Slytherin and all, as he grew up in Hogwarts, that would change. It had to change if he hoped to survive in Slytherin unscathed.
Zachary glanced at the table where the professors ate, noticing that Professor Malfoy had not joined everyone for breakfast. Professor Longbottom and Professor Potter —yes, that Potter. House Sorting the past night had been hell with everyone wanting to join the house that had The Chosen One as its Head of House— were engaged in a rather interesting conversation if one were to judge by the way their food was left untouched in favour of continuing their talk.
A small glimmer caught his eye, and he watched as, sometimes, when Professor Potter waved his left hand in the air when the light shone just right, there was a tiny sparkle on his ring finger.
A suffering sigh left him, earning him some concerned questioning from Mendoza.
There hadn't been any news of Harry Potter getting engaged or married, either.
It took him one entire week to realise why the interactions between Professor Malfoy and Professor Potter seemed off to him.
The first Potions Class with Professor Malfoy had been a disaster in the sense that every student was terrified of Malfoy. The blonde had taken a look around the room, noticed all the scared and wide-eyed faces in most of the students —Zachary couldn't care less, truly, and Mendoza was clueless at the fear every other student was feeling— and sighed as if he had been presented with a vial of water posing as veritaserum. He then allowed the entire class to question him, if anything, to ease the obvious worries everyone had about him.
He went on to clarify that he had to do the same thing with all of his other classes, and his lesson plan had suffered from not following it to a T.
What Zachary noticed in that sudden game of twenty questions was that Professor Malfoy referred to everyone by their surname. 'Yes, Miss Roberts, I was cleared of all the crimes my name once held. Wouldn't be here otherwise.' and 'No, Mister Galloway, the Dark Mark clearly didn't disappear once Voldemort died.' and 'Of course, your dad said that, Miss Longbottom, but I have not once in my life worn anything hot pink.'
And that was a treatment that didn't extend to Harry Potter.
Every time he noticed his two professors talking —and that wasn't that often, to be completely honest. It was almost as if the two of them had something against being seen in public together—, Professor Malfoy referred to Professor Potter as Harry. Not in a teasing or a disapproving tone, or in any other tone that could signal some sort of negative emotion laced with the name. No, Professor Malfoy said Harry like the name held all the answers in the universe. Like it could cure his thirst and hunger just by uttering the name. Said Harry like it was the last time he could say the name, soft and guarded and precious and theirs.
Zachary had to wonder how, exactly, the entire Wizarding World didn't know about them.
He looked up from his History of Magic homework to glance at Mendoza, frowning slightly when he realised something.
"Hey," he called, easily gaining the attention of the Latino boy, big brown doe-eyes looking up at him, and a soft 'hm?' being hummed to let him know he had been heard, "what's your name?"
A complicated array of emotions made their way through Mendoza's face, his roommate finally settling on scandalised offence, furrowing his brows and opening his mouth like his mum usually did when Uncle Frederick made some off-handed comment against her.
"We've known each other for two months! You really don't know my name?!"
Zachary had to spend an arduous ten minutes explaining to Mendoza that he didn't know anyone's name. Hardly even knew the last name of most of their house.
He then knew his name was Lilo.
And, like Professor Malfoy seemed to do with Professor Potter, Zachary took to only calling Lilo by his given name.
It was a week after learning Lilo's name that Zachary realised he hadn't seen their rings in a while.
It was five months into the school year when Professor Malfoy decided to grace everyone with his presence at the Great Hall.
Lizzie Hawthorn, a third-year Slytherin, was recounting something that happened during the Quidditch match the previous day when the usual chattering that filled the walls of the hall quieted down, an ominous lull in every single conversation being held at that moment caused by a single person.
Draco Malfoy, wearing a different, long-sleeved black shirt with the sleeves folded at the elbows, looking as casual as someone who had avoided eating at the Great Hall with the rest of the school body could look, walked without a care in the world until he reached the professors' table. He interchanged some words with Professor Hagrid and Headmistress McGonagall, nodding slightly at something the Headmistress had said with a small smile on her aged face and then went to sit down.
Right beside Professor Potter.
Professor Potter didn't look scandalised or weirded out by the sitting choice of Professor Malfoy, however. He looked elated. He smiled that blinding smile that always decorated his face when he was talking about Quidditch or Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley or his godson Teddy Lupin. He beamed at Malfoy, and then started talking with the Potions Master as if the two of them were old friends.
With the way Professor Malfoy was smiling at Professor Potter and resting his head in his hand, they looked like they were a lot more than friends.
Conversations returned slowly to the state they were in before the presence of Professor Malfoy interrupted them, and Lizzie Hawthorn scoffed and continued with her retelling of the Quidditch match between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, recapturing the attention of the Slytherins that had been listening to her before. The snakes slowly joined the return of normalcy that had been spreading on every table, and even Lilo shrugged his shoulders and continued eating his abomination of mismatched cereals in strawberry yoghurt, asking a fellow first-year his opinion on the Charms homework they had pending for next week.
Zachary stared at his professors for a little while longer, noticing how their ring fingers glinted slightly when the light caught them just right, even though, apparently, there was nothing there that could cause such a shimmer.
He made a note to ask Professor Flitwick about disillusionment charms in the next class.
For Yule Hols, he went back to the Fox Manor at the request of his mum, Eloise Fox, claiming that just because he was a Hogwarts student now didn't mean that he got to escape Boxing Day with the family.
It was the day before they would open their gifts that Zachary glanced at his parents, noticed the way his dad looked at his mum, and wondered. Because his dad looked at his mum like she hung all the stars in the sky. Because his dad looked at his mum like she held all the beauty in the world. Looked at his mum like she was the only person in the universe that his eyes could see, and then looked at her like he couldn't fathom that he was allowed to look at her at all.
Zachary realised with a start that it was the same way Professor Malfoy looked at Professor Potter whenever he could see the two of them together.
Zachary wondered why there weren't that many people having the same suppositions as him. Only Lilo seemed interested in watching their two professors interact, just to whisper under his breath 'those two are definitely fucking.'
He wondered, briefly, what exactly happened in schools in Mexico that had Lilo make such a claim with all the calm in the world.
Changes had been made to the distribution of the classes imparted every year by Headmistress McGonagall. So the second year came with the wonderful news that they could now take the Defence Against the Dark Arts class that Professor Potter held for all other years, and the mess that had been House Sorting came back with a vengeance on all of his year mates.
Because suddenly everyone seemed to remember that Professor Potter was the Chosen One, that he alone had defeated Voldemort, and that his magical prowess was unparalleled. Gone was the normality that everyone had come to treat the poor man with, and now every waking moment for half of Hogwarts' second years was spent wondering what new magical wonder the great Harry Potter would grace their existence with.
Zachary was brutally reminded that almost all of his year mates were twelve-year-olds like him, and his temptation to hit his forehead against his desk was never greater.
The first Defence Against the Dark Arts class that the second-year Slytherins had was unusually silent, as if everyone was holding their breaths because they were in the presence of the hero of Wizarding Britain, and Zachary had resigned himself to a year of the most civil and boring class he would be graced with— and Professor Binns was their History of Magic professor, which made the feat even most impressive— when a blessing befell in all of them by the raised hand of Angelica King.
Professor Potter stopped his lecture about pixies to look at his student with nothing short of gratefulness on his face and smiled that smile that could disarm even the coldest of men without even trying.
"Yes, Angelica?"
"My mum told me that you cast a Patronus during the war." Angelica answered, all childlike wonder in her words and an eager edge to her actions, "Can you show us?"
An excited chorus of agreements suddenly filled out the classroom, and what had previously been the quietest class his fellow Slytherins had doomed him with suddenly turned into the organised chaos that History of Magic, Transfiguration and Flying usually was. Professor Potter even seemed relieved that everyone now was noisy and excited, the way his shoulders lost the tension they had held, and his smile softened in the corners, along with his eyes.
Professor Potter chuckled, shaking his head but otherwise saying nothing against the request Angelica King had. He even held his hand up to ask for silence, and once the shouting calmed down to an excitable murmur, he answered.
"You're not the first one to ask me that, and I have a good hunch that you will not be the last," he said good-naturedly, taking his wand out and rolling the sleeves of his burgundy robes back. "Very well, I will indulge you guys a little. Pay attention."
Tales about the regal and powerful stag that was Harry Potter's Patronus always joined those of his defeat of the Dark Lord. Fantastical and exaggerated recountings of how he once fended off against a hundred dementors, having just learned the spell, and how that same stag had made multiple apparitions during and after the fight against Voldemort.
Like everything else Harry Potter did, his Patronus was something that was told with bated breath and almost idolising words. He was the saviour of Wizarding Britain, after all. The Chosen One! The Boy Who Lived Twice! His every step was a blessing he cast upon those who could see him, and his mere smile could be enough to brighten even the darkest of days.
Or so the magazines his mum usually read said.
Professor Potter readied his stance, closed his eyes and after two seconds shouted, "Expecto Patronum!"
Silver light came out of his wand, and everyone, even himself, waited with held breaths and wide eyes for his stag to materialise. For that majestic stag to bless them with its presence, walking amongst them, mere mortals and fill them with a feeling of reassurance and happiness. Because that's what Harry Potter was, truly—safety, happiness and stability.
But where everyone waited for a stag, something different appeared before a dozen eyes.
Because from Professor Potter's wand, from his Expecto Patronum, a stag hadn't appeared.
It was a ferret.
Long, almost liquid-like, squirmy and fluffy. The small, incorporeal, magical animal jumped and ran and played in the air just above Professor Potter, circling his head and body until, finally, it disappeared in a puff of silver and blue, retreating into Professor Potter's own soul, it seemed.
The silence returned to the classroom with a vengeance, but Professor Potter didn't seem to mind this time. He simply stared at the space the small ferret had occupied previously, half-lidded eyes and soft smile telling more of a story than everyone seemed to notice, and then promptly returned to his lecture about pixies, his voice now holding such love and tenderness that it reminded him of his mum when she used to read him bedtime stories.
And Zachary was suddenly hit with the urge to tell his mum he loved her.
Lilo joined the Quidditch team as the new second-year Chaser for the Slytherin formation. His smile was blinding when the captain gave him the position, and Zachary had to calm his heart at the sight of his friend illuminating the entire stadium without even meaning to.
It was when they were returning to the dungeons, the chipper and accented voice of Lilo chattering away about everything and nothing, that they came across Professor Malfoy and Professor Potter. The two adults didn't even seem to notice them, too distracted in their conversation and enraptured in their little world to notice anything outside of the other, and that was such a common occurrence in Hogwarts at this point that everyone learned better than to try and pry them away when they were so captured with the other.
Zachary couldn't help but listen, however. His professors had insisted on making him a witness to whatever it was they had going on between them —even if they had not meant to do so in the first place— and now his ears and eyes were finely tuned to notice little details in their interactions that no one else would even consider being there.
And so, he noticed. He noticed Professor Malfoy's left hand lingering atop Professor Potter's right wrist, the tip of long, pale and calloused fingers giving a touch that almost wasn't, as if afraid that a handling rougher than that could shatter the impassive Harry Potter in a million pieces, too small and brittle to put him back together. He noticed the soft look Professor Potter had in his green, toxic eyes, a mirror of the look he had worn after conjuring his ferret Patronus on the first Defence Against the Dark Arts class he had imparted to the second year Slytherins. He noticed soft voices, hushed whispers too quiet to make out from where he was walking alongside Lilo, a familiarity in the way their faces shifted just slightly at certain words or sharpened at others.
He noticed soft smiles that reminded him of those his parents interchanged whenever they thought Zachary wasn't noticing, and gazes holding so much love that it could be blinding to anyone else but them.
Worst-kept secret in the entirety of Wizarding Britain, those two. Honestly.
Professor Malfoy wasn't a man known for smiling.
That much was obvious to anyone who knew him. He was known for his wit, for his cunning, for his knowledge of potions that rivalled that of the late Severus Snape, and he was known for his looks that earned him the title of most sought-after bachelor just after Harry Potter. His smiles, however, were not a defining trait of his Head of House.
Zachary had to ask himself, then, why he had been a witness of that elusive smile as many times as he had.
The answer is not a surprising one.
Because for every time he was a witness to that smile, Harry Potter was there to be the sole reason and recipient of it.
Professor Malfoy smiled as if it took his breath away. His smiles were small, guarded and personal. They were meant to be seen just by one pair of eyes and one pair of eyes only. He smiled with his heart on his sleeve, just above the Dark Mark claiming his forearm, and offered a tiny piece, a sliver of his soul, with every upturn of his lips.
And for every one of those pained, secretly terrified smiles of his, Professor Potter was there to receive them with warmth and care and love.
Professor Potter, who offered his smiles like everyone was deserving of them, accepted those whispers that claimed to be a smile with open arms and a bleeding heart, giving back something that every witch and wizard available in Wizarding Britain would fight for. Every one of those small, afraid smiles was rewarded with something that, to Professor Malfoy, Professor Potter gave freely.
For every smile that Professor Malfoy gave him, Professor Potter gave his love in return.
Zachary was in his third year when he got his first detention.
It was after the first trip to Hogsmeade for them, and Lilo had given him something. "Because you're a Fox!" he had said, all blinding smiles and beaming excitement.
In the bag that he had given him was an orange hoodie, and Zachary was utterly confused for a hot second. When had he given his friend clues about liking to wear clothes in such a colour? Weird.
The mystery was resolved, however, when he unfolded the offending piece of garment and was greeted with a hood that had some ears on it, several shades darker than the slightly muted orange the rest of the fabric wore.
It was a fox hoodie.
He looked at Lilo and smiled, ready to thank him for the gift and claim that he would wear it whenever he could, when a sixth-year Slytherin scoffed down at them, a cruel, mocking smile on his ugly face.
"Aw, isn't that adorable, Fox? Your mudblood boyfriend got you a gift," he spat, saying 'mudblood' with an abhorrent sense of superiority, a disgusted sneer directed at Lilo. "Honestly, why do you waste your time with such a disappointment? With your bloodline–"
Zachary's fist on his nose was enough to shut him up.
He had no regrets, however. After punching the ugly bastard, he returned to Lilo's left, thanked him and continued their talk as if nothing had happened, not caring when the older teen started spewing some nonsense about how he was 'going to pay for doing that'.
Cleaning the cauldrons the first years destroyed in the Potions classroom wasn't the worst punishment he could've been given.
Professor Malfoy was at his desk at the front of the classroom, supervising that Zachary abided by his punishment and grading some essays from the N.E.W.T. level students. There was a comfortable quiet among them, the two of them doing their work without bothering each other. Zachary was more than happy to continue with the brittle peace between them, but a small, almost unnoticed shimmer appeared on Professor Malfoy's ring finger when he moved on to the next essay to grade, and his damning curiosity got the best of him.
He needed to work on his self-control.
"Professor Malfoy? May I ask something?"
The man paused his actions for a second and raised his head, staring at Zachary in contemplation before nodding slightly, signalling to him with the hand he wasn't using to hold the parchment with some poor soul's essay.
"You may ask your question, Mister Fox."
Zachary pressed his lips together, considering whether this line of action was a smart idea after all, and decided that he had already been an unwilling witness to so many moments between his professors that he was due some sort of explanation for some of his queries.
"I was wondering why you and Professor Potter hide your rings."
Professor Malfoy stared at him like he had grown a third head, looking down at the hand where the disillusioned ring rested and frowned. It seemed he was considering whether it was worth telling a student his reasoning, but the way his face returned to the unimpressed neutrality it usually wore told him he was not deemed worthy of knowing the secrets of his professors.
"That, I'm afraid, is between me and Professor Potter, Mister Fox."
Zachary had to suppress a shudder at hearing Professor Malfoy calling Professor Potter by that moniker, too used to hearing 'Harry' being said in the low drawl that was Draco Malfoy's voice. He simply nodded, muttering a hardly audible 'understood' before continuing with his punishment of cleaning cauldrons.
The secrecy of it all, however, only helped to fuel his curiosity.
Zachary damned his need to satiate his want for knowledge and let out a suffering sigh.
He hated that he had become invested in the mystery surrounding them.
The rest of his third year was alarmingly calm regarding the secret between Professor Malfoy and Professor Potter, and Zachary was suspicious as to why nothing worth noting had happened between them. For two years, he had been a witness to too many moments shared between his professors, and this drought of interactions was weird at best and worrying at worst.
His fourth year rectified that.
Three months into the school year, the entire Wizarding World was shaken to its core by one single wizard: Emil Ericsson. The Swedish muggleborn had been a pioneer in incorporating the wonder that was Muggle technology with magic, like some vehicles were already capable of doing. Emil's innovations, however, were aimed at something smaller than a car or bike that could fly; Emil had been the first wizard to allow a Muggle telephone to work in the Wizard World back in 2002, bringing forth the commodity of no longer having to use owls or the Floo Network to reach others. He then figured out computers, televisions and printers, and other household items joined his menagerie of magical Muggle technology.
In 2010, joining forces with wizards in Japan, China and South Korea that were aiming towards the same goals, the newly founded Pixel Owl's Wizarding Solutions —or POWS, how everyone insisted on calling them and always had Lilo giggling— revealed that they had created something that worked fairly similarly to the Muggle Internet, and the revolutionary invention had created an uproar of mixed reactions.
The wizards set in staying in the old ways claimed that Emil's inventions would bring forth the disrepair of their culture, saying that their world had remained rooted in their old ways for centuries, and the fast swarm of novelties that Emil Ericsson was bringing had to be stopped. Those less afraid of change were more accepting, however, and said that for too long they had sent wizards to the Muggle world without an idea of the fast-paced change their technology brought, and that staying ignorant of such change would eventually lead to suspicion and the possible reveal of the Wizarding World.
Zachary thought that the whole discussion was ridiculous. He, for once, was glad of not having to use the Floo every time he wanted to talk with Lilo while they were on holiday.
Ericsson was not done changing the Wizarding World, however, and seven years after gracing everyone with the wonder that was the Wizard Web, POWS came forward with their newest integration of magic and Muggle technology, and the world was again in an uproar.
They had managed to make a smartphone.
Portable phones were already a thing. Small, rectangular-shaped devices that Lilo called 'brick Nokias' and then refused to explain why. The 'Lumos Spellphone', as it had been marketed to every wizard and witch on the planet, had been an instant hit. Even his parents had hurried to buy the tiny little things, and his dad was practically useless when it came to magic muggle technology.
This smartphone, however, worked just like the latest smartphones on the muggle market, and Lilo was the one to point that out.
"My mom got a Samsung last week," Lilo had said one afternoon while they were reading the Daily Prophet article regarding the phone, "and this looks just like her phone. I wonder if I'll be able to call her if I get one of these…"
Zachary had no idea what a 'Samsung' was.
But two weeks after the Daily Prophet article, the 'Lumos Maxima Spellphone' was launched to the public, at the comfortable and affordable price of just 120 Galleons. Before anyone knew it, almost all of the Hogwarts student body had one of the clever inventions.
That included the professors.
Professor Potter and Professor Longbottom were the first to appear with smartphones in hand. Professor Longbottom said it was an easy way to stay in touch with his wife, Luna Longbottom, while she was at home caring for their one-year-old son. There was an application called Pensieve that helped two people with a smartphone have something called a "video call", and that's how Professor Longbottom stayed in contact with his family while at Hogwarts.
Professor Potter just said the smartphone was cool.
After them, the entire faculty seemed to be curious about the devices. Even Headmistress McGonagall, who was more used to the old ways, had a Lumos Maxima three weeks after the phone was launched.
Zachary had gifted Lilo one.
What Zachary didn't seem to realise was that, for some reason, people loved to put their lives on the Wizard Web for the whole world to see. There was an application called Wixture, which Lilo compared to something called Instagram an awful lot, and Professor Potter had an account on it. Unsurprisingly, he garnered a mass of followers in no time, despite there only being one picture up in his profile. Zachary would admit to being one of the amassed followers because everyone and their grandmothers were following the Saviour of the Wizard World.
And maybe he was nosy, whatever.
A surprising person to create a profile on Wixture was Professor Malfoy. He had a more humble number of followers, despite having more pictures uploaded on his profile, and didn't seem bothered by that fact even one bit.
Zachary noticed something, though.
In the pictures where his hand was in the frame, the ring that he hadn't seen since Professor Malfoy introduced himself as his Head of House and Potions Professor was visible, proudly presented for the world to see. Apparently, disillusionment charms didn't work on pictures, who would have thought? It was a thin silver band with a row of five emeralds on top of it, the centre one being bigger than the side ones.
His surprise came when he noticed the more sober band below it, a simple gold band with a single ruby in its centre.
Professor Malfoy was married.
Zachary couldn't resist the urge to slam his head against his desk this time.
The second surprise of his fourth year came with a name and surname.
And with being a person, he supposed.
Rose Granger-Weasley was the daughter of Professor Potter's best friends, a fact that was obvious with her being a Gryffindor and the way the girl called Professor Potter "Uncle Harry" outside the classroom, and with how much Professor Potter showed to care for the girl. There was no secret to gossip about there; their relationship was obvious.
The gossip started after Yule break, when, according to a seventh-year Ravenclaw, Rose Granger-Weasley was heard calling Professor Malfoy 'Uncle Draco'.
Professor Malfoy was in charge of chaperoning the first years back into Hogwarts once they came back to the school from Yule break, a task that usually fell to Professor Hagrid and was changed when the half-giant had to attend a family matter in the Forbidden Forest, of all places. The Head Girl and Boy, along with each house's prefects, waited to relieve Professor Malfoy of their charges in the Great Hall, and that's when it supposedly happened.
An innocent girl had said goodbye to her favourite professor— and wasn't that such a wild thing to know, that Professor Malfoy was someone's favourite— and, without thinking, said something she apparently always said when outside Hogwarts.
By dinner that day, the entire school knew.
It wasn't surprising that both Professor Malfoy and Rose Granger-Weasley were missing from dinner that day, but the surprise absence was that of Professor Potter. Zachary simply assumed that, as her Head of House, Potter was consoling and guiding his student and niece, but a small itch in the back of his head told him that wasn't the entire picture.
And then the lightbulb went off.
Scrambling for his Spellphone, Zachary opened Wixture in a hurry under the curious gaze of Lilo. Without explaining anything to his best friend, offering just a vague "tell you later" when asked what he was doing, he went to Professor Potter's profile and opened the only photo that had been uploaded to it.
When his grey-blue eyes found what he was looking for, he slammed his head against the table, alarming all of his housemates and worrying Lilo.
He couldn't help it, however.
On the barely visible ring finger of Professor Potter, there was an exact copy of Professor Malfoy's rings, with the places swapped. And he felt so fucking stupid for not having realised before.
Of course, there never were any announcements of either Harry Potter or the Malfoy Heir getting engaged or married. It would be the biggest outrage since the end of the war and the defeat of Voldemort if there were. It would be a living hell.
Professor Malfoy and Professor Potter were married to each other.
Suddenly, he didn't want to be a student at Hogwarts anymore.
Despite his dramatic realisation, Zachary did not drop out of Hogwarts at the discovery of his professors' marriage. For once, his mum wouldn't let him do such a thing, no matter how much he could beg. And secondly, he didn't want to leave Lilo.
His mind made, he settled for the next best option: He completely ignored his discovery.
Honestly, knowing that two of his professors were married to each other didn't change anything. They would still impart classes whether he liked it or not, just as they had been doing for the past four years, and nothing Zachary did would change such a fact. It had become his normalcy at Hogwarts, after all, and he truly didn't want anything to change.
So, praying to every deity known to man (none of them being one Zachary believed in), he barreled into his Fifth Year with his head held high.
And promptly wished he had not discovered the secret between Professor Malfoy and Professor Potter.
Now, every time he had a class with either professor, he was reminded by his traitorous mind of the relationship they shared, and it completely broke his concentration on the subject of the day. It honestly didn't help that whenever he thought of the marriage between his professors, his mind offered him multiple images of a distant future where he and Lilo were the ones married, the ones with matching rings and secret smiles.
Oh, how he wished he could Obliviate himself.
Then maybe he wouldn't suffer with something he had no way of having.
For Summer Hols that year, Zachary had convinced his mum to let him go to Mexico with Lilo and his family, with the promise of getting in contact with her every day and sending tons of photos so she could make sure he was okay.
Honestly, she was so overbearing.
He truly loved her with all his heart.
And so, after a long flight in a contraption called an "aeroplane" that Zachary would never set foot in ever again, his fifteenth summer found him in the sunny and humid Mérida, Yucatán.
It had been Lilo’s dad’s idea to go to Mexico. Something about showing Zachary the culture of his best friend. Zachary didn’t really understand why that was important, as Lilo had been getting himself used to British culture already, but Lilo’s smile had been so bright and beautiful when he proposed the trip that Zachary couldn’t find the willpower in his heart to even consider saying no. Not like it was possible, to be honest, to be able to say no to Lilo Mendoza— the boy had such a natural charisma that even some professors at Hogwarts were under his thumb. A power Lilo didn’t even know he possessed.
It was marvellous and dangerous and beautiful.
Zachary would truly give his life for Lilo’s.
But that was not where his mind ought to be at that moment. Not with the relentless Mexican sun shining on his back, tanning his skin red mercilessly, or with the scattered chatter of Spanish that his ears were trying— and failing— to translate. He never considered that not knowing the language would be such a huge disadvantage, but it now was on his plans to learn Spanish once he made it back to Ireland to spend the rest of the holidays with his family.
Lilo’s dad, a fairly short and burly man named Francisco Mendoza, with an eternal smile that explained his best friend’s own eternal smile, was leading the group, composed of the extensive Mendoza family and Zachary. Lilo did once tell him that his family was numerous, but Zachary never expected the sheer number of people that would accompany them to their trip to the magical side of Chichén Itzá.
One of Lilo’s aunts, a scholar that taught History of Magic at Castelobruxo called Cecilia Mendoza, and who insisted at being called ‘Doña Cecilia’ when Zachary tried to refer to her as ‘Professor Mendoza’, told them that the indigenous Mayan people that built and lived in Chichén Itzá took to hide its magical sides when the Spanish conquistadors came and started to pillage the place, looking to rob the indigenous people of their ways, lands and customs. It was agreed between the elders that a few of their people would remain in hiding, so that their magic and history could never truly vanish, and the rest of the Mayans would fight the Spaniards and drive them off their sacred land, so they could not soil it even further.
Eventually, the Spanish conquistadors won and took to calling Chichén Itzá ’Ciudad Real’ or Royal City, no doubt in an attempt to show the indigenous people that the Spanish Crown now controlled all of Yucatán, but the Spaniards were never aware of the magic that the Mayans had hidden right below their noses. With magic being such a strong taboo in Spain, the Catholic Church and the Vatican holding more power than they knew what to do with, magic and wixens were shunned and hunt down, to the point where Wizardkind was almost eradicated from Spain and Portugal; this caused Spanish and Portuguese wixens to hate the Crown, which ensured that the magic side of Chichén Itzá was never found and its history and magic remained preserved centuries after.
It was kind of fascinating to learn about the lengths the Mayan people went just to protect their magic, and Zachary found that he wanted to know even more of the magic and country that had seen his best friend be born.
He looked to the side to watch Lilo chatting with his cousins, the stray Hogwarts said occasionally, letting him know that he was regaling his family with stories about the school. With a fond smile on his lips, he returned his gaze to Doña Cecilia, who was looking at him with a knowing glint in her brown eyes.
“Not subtle at all,” she said teasingly, her voice having the same accented thrill that Lilo’s voice did, and the way his skin felt hot with a violent blush made him want to hide his face forever.
“Am I that obvious?” he asked with fear in his voice, not wanting for his friend to know of his feelings. The last thing he wanted was to ruin his friendship with Lilo just because his heart decided to speed up every time his friend smiled that blinding smile of his.
Zachary didn’t want to feel alone ever again, without his best friend by his side.
Doña Cecilia turned her teasing smile into a more caring one, no doubt a smile that came naturally to her after years of teaching younger students, and she simply tutted at him, as if he were a kid caught after curfew and not a teenager suffering with the bothersome ordeal that was being in love.
“You don’t have to worry,” Doña Cecilia said, her voice decorated a bit with mirth, “Lilo is bright and happy, but he was never too perceptive of others’ feelings. More than once, a young lady found herself frustrated because Lilo doesn’t tend to see what’s right in front of him. Too thick, that one.”
“Hey! Anything she says is a lie, don’t believe her!” Lilo suddenly butted in, abandoning his previous conversation to rush where Zachary and Cecilia were standing, no doubt having heard what Doña Cecilia was saying and, correctly, assuming it was about him, “I don’t know what she said, but she’s lying.”
Doña Cecilia started to laugh at how vehemently Lilo was trying to defend his honour without even knowing why he was the conversation topic, flicking her fingers at his best friend’s forehead and causing him to shriek in outrage, his hands flying to where he had been hit.
“¡¿Qué pedo, tía Ceci?! ¿Ya qué vergas hice?” Lilo complained in Spanish, no doubt saying something bad if the way Doña Cecilia’s smile turned into a frown was anything to go by.
And if not the frown on his aunt’s face, the sudden shout of ’¡Lilo Fernando!’ coming from Lilo’s mom, Adriana Torreblanca, that had his best friend paling considerably and shouting back a quick ’¡Perdón, ma!’ would be an immediate giveaway that Lilo had said something that didn’t agree with the matrons of the family.
Zachary was suddenly very lost in this conversation.
A discussion in Spanish broke out between aunt and nephew, both of them speaking way too fast to even entertain the idea of attempting to translate the conversation, a hopeless endeavour with his limited knowledge of only knowing to say ‘Hello’, ‘How are you?’ and ‘I like agua de horchata’— something Lilo insisted he needed to know if he wanted to be liked by his family but refused to explain why—, so the Irish teen had no choice but to walk away from Lilo and Doña Cecilia. It felt wrong to not be in close proximity to his best friend, but that would be something he would ruminate over at a later time.
Apparently, he was way too obvious in his pining for his best friend. And if his conversation about it with Doña Cecilia was any indication, endless teasing from everyone in the Mendoza family was to be expected for the remainder of their trip to Mexico.
Zachary was doomed.
Fifth year came with the awful news that their O.W.L’s were taking place, which meant that Zachary now had no time to spare for the prime gossip that was Professor Malfoy and Professor Potter being married. Even Lilo was more subdued than usual, the bright chattering from his best friend being replaced by angry muttering over Charms’ notes and half-filled-out parchment papers. Lilo had even replaced his quill with a Muggle pen, deciding that his sanity was worth more than wixen etiquette. Kimberly Lovelock, a seventh-year Gryffindor obsessed with all things Muggle, kept looking at the small contraption with hungry eyes, and Zachary was honestly scared that she would pound at any second and try to take the pen from Lilo.
The doors to the library opened, and in came Professor Malfoy, a small mountain of books trailing behind him with a levitation charm, and being reminded of the existence of his professor just served to put him in even more of a bad mood. He honestly didn’t need to be reminded of that which he couldn’t have, especially considering the object of his affections was sitting beside him and cursing in Spanish over the stupidity of levioso and wingardium leviosa existing concurrently. Something about there being “no reason for two levitation charms to have to exist”.
So maybe he took to learning Spanish after his trip to Mexico, so what?
He apparently loved to torture himself.
Was this how Professor Malfoy felt when he, himself, was a student at Hogwarts? Possibly pining after Professor Potter, lamenting not being able to do anything about his feelings for fear of how his family would react? Of him, heir to a pureblood family, being in love with a half-blood? Of him, who was expected to marry his cousin, Edith Fox, and not a boy, not even familiar with their customs?
… Maybe he was projecting a little bit.
But what else was he supposed to do, truly, when he had no one he could speak to about this with? When he, for the first time since his first year, felt utterly and truly alone, despite having Lilo by his side every day without a single fault? When he was so afraid of his own feelings that he had taken to simply not speak unless unavoidable for fear of spilling out the fact that he was in love with his best friend, and there was no force in this world capable of making him stop feeling that love? What was he supposed to do, then, when he could not speak of his feelings or else his entire world would come crumbling down into a fiery pit?
Projecting himself onto Professor Malfoy seemed like the most obvious answer, and wasn’t that just depressing?
Because it was just as possible that Professor Malfoy didn’t have the same issues Zachary was currently having, it was just as possible that Professor Malfoy was the Lilo of his relationship, completely unaware of the feelings someone else held for him and blissfully ignorant of the pain it was causing the other person. It was just as possible that Professor Potter had done all the pining instead of Professor Malfoy, and just as possible that Professor Potter was not a coward like Zachary and decided to simply confess his feelings without fearing the worst.
It was just as possible that Zachary had no one in the world who could relate to his current situation, and that was killing him inside.
He glanced at Professor Malfoy, busy sorting books into bookshelves, and then at Lilo, who was biting the blunt end of his pen while comparing his notes to Zachary’s, and he had to excuse himself before imploding.
“Hey, I’m going to the bathroom,” he whispered to Lilo, who simply waved him off like he was a mosquito while scratching his head with the pen, looking utterly confused over something on Zachary’s notes.
But as he passed Professor Malfoy, he looked for the shimmering on his ring finger, finding it easily when knowing what he was looking for, and the mental image of sharing rings with Lilo just served to depress him even more.
He had a wild feeling that he would do awful at the O.W.L’s.
He did awful at the O.W.L’s.
His mum was looking at him with the most disappointed look ever, and Zachary didn’t know where he could hide himself so that he wouldn’t have to endure that look being directed at him. It was usually saved for Uncle Frederick, so being the sole victim of that look just made him feel even more awful than he already did.
“You have to take remedial courses in Ancient Runes and History of Magic, Zachary Timothy Fox. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Oh, no. Full name.
He looked down at his hands, frowning at them, as if they were the ones responsible for his current predicament, but he knew better. There was no one else to blame for his faults but himself, who had let his feelings get in the way of his education, and now he was reaping the consequences of his actions. Now he had to take remedial courses, now he had to spend even more time apart from Lilo, now he was the only person in the entirety of Hogwarts that seemed to know of the Malfoy-Potter marriage, and he felt like he was suffocating.
He didn’t know when he started hyperventilating, but soon enough the caring hands of his mum were caressing his back, and her sweet voice was whispering reassurances at him, reassurances that he didn’t deserve because it was his fault. He had let his feelings get the best of him instead of controlling himself, of taking ownership and simply deciding that, since he would never get together with Lilo, he should simply stop thinking about it and get over this silly crush that he had developed.
But it wasn’t a silly crush. It wasn’t something he could simply ignore. It wasn’t something he could get over so easily.
He was in love. Utterly and overly infatuated with one Lilo Fernando Mendoza Torreblanca. And it was enough to feel like he was drowning.
“Zachary, shhh, it’s okay, my sweet boy. It’s okay, we can figure it out,” his mum continued whispering, making his eyes water and his breathing even more hurried.
“But it’s not okay,” he shot back, looking at his mum with frantic eyes, and the confused look on her face let him know that she didn’t understand where he was coming from, “Mum, I think I’m gay.”
The room suddenly got so silent that you could hear a pin drop. His mum looked at him with bewilderment, not knowing where to even start with such a statement, looking at his face, his hands and his entire body with confusion and a little bit of apprehension, before coming back to his face with even more confusion on her face.
“You… what?”
“I’m in love with Lilo, mum. And it’s killing me.”
Eloise Fox was rarely left speechless. She was a woman who knew what she wanted, when she wanted it and how she wanted it. She hadn’t let his dad’s family get in the way of their love, decided to marry Timothy Fox even if it would kill her, and her headstrongness had made it so she left the last name of Canne and became a Fox.
For the first time in his life, Eloise Fox didn’t say anything. She simply let go of him, got up and left the room, all of that without uttering a single sound.
And that’s when Zachary promptly lost it.
Because the first person that he told of his feelings had decided that he was unworthy of love, and now it was decided.
Lilo could never know of his feelings.
The sixth year came with the wonderful news that his dreams of having an apothecary were now garbage after fumbling his O.W.L’s. Not even earning an O in Potions and Herbology helped with his case, which meant that his mastery in potions was now an even more distant dream, which meant that he was overtly and utterly fucked.
It was such an absurd notion, the fact that losing an exam could rob him of his dreams, but now here he was, skulking while mixing a potion to perfection during Potions Class, all under the watchful eyes of Professor Malfoy. Not even Lilo’s intervention helped him feel better, which in itself was quite the feat; his best friend was usually the best way to brighten his days, but giving the fact that his feelings for said best friend had been, in part, the reason why he had fumbled his O.W.L’s in the first place, he felt a little bit vindicated over the fact that he was not affecting him as much as he usually did.
Zachary knew that this was temporary, that once he got over his slump, he would go back to being affected by everything and anything that Lilo Mendoza did, but he was going to enjoy not being affected by the mere existence of the Mexican boy.
Professor Malfoy dismissed class once everyone finished bottling their potions, except for the fact that the professor called him out, asking him to stay behind for a bit. Lilo sent him a questioning look, but Zachary honestly didn’t know what could have caused for Professor Malfoy to single him out, so he shrugged an unhelpful non-answer and went to see his Head of House, his questioning expression making the Malfoy heir arch one eyebrow in bemusement.
“Before I start, I want to assure you that you did nothing wrong,” Professor Malfoy said, which only served to irk Zachary somehow.
“I know I did nothing wrong, which is why I’m so confused,” he answered, making his professor frown slightly at the hint of disrespect in his answer.
“2 points from Slytherin for talking back, Mister Fox,” Professor Malfoy grumbled, making him groan, and now the professor looked annoyed, “Want to make that 5 points instead?”
“No, I’m sorry,” he begrudgingly said, to which the professor scoffed.
“I know that you must be having strong emotions right now, which is why I’m not taking this personally, but I am going to ask you to act with more respect when speaking to me, considering I’m both your professor and Head of House,” Malfoy sentenced, his sharp eyes making Zachary nod despite himself, “Good. Now, I know that your O.W.L’s results were less than desirable, but I want to tell you something important that you should know about that.”
His interest piqued, Zachary looked at his professor with hopeful eyes, wanting more than anything for there to be good news after that statement.
“Yes?”
“O.W.L’s don’t really matter that much. Why, Professor Potter did awful at his O.W.L’s, and look at him now. You should know, they’re only grades. It's not the end of the world. You have an innate talent with potions, Mister Fox. Use it well. Don’t let two letters bring you down.”
Zachary simply blinked, staring at Professor Malfoy as if he had grown a second head and was a figment of his imagination. Was that really the infamous Draco Malfoy encouraging him on his dreams, letting him know that everything would be okay, letting him know that nothing would change despite his grades at the O.W.L’s?
The world had gone mad.
And yet, Zachary could only smile and thank his professor for his encouraging words, promising him that he would not let this deter him from his dream of opening an apothecary, of earning a Potions Mastery, of…
But would it really be his dream if he didn’t have Lilo by his side?
He stared at his professor, pondered over his decision of sharing this with him, and decided that nothing could go worse than it already was going. Professor Malfoy could simply choose not to answer and let him ruminate over his feelings when nothing else could be said between them.
What else could go badly in his life, truly?
“Professor Malfoy,” he started, earning himself a slight nod from his Head of House to let him know it was okay to continue, “who confessed first, you or Professor Potter?”
Professor Malfoy’s face could be a painting. All colour had drained from his face, while his expression was a mix of fury and apprehension. Apparently, someone knowing the secret that he shared with the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was enough to put him on the spot, to root him to his place and make him rethink everything about his interactions with Potter. Malfoy was looking at Zachary like he was tempted to hit him with an obliviate, like he was an enigma he couldn’t quite figure out, and Zachary felt a bit of pride at causing such a reaction from the impassible Draco Malfoy.
“You— how do you—”
“I have eyes, Professor Malfoy,” Zachary drawled, making Professor Malfoy sputter in offence, “And, no offence, but it’s a miracle that no one else knows. You and Professor Potter aren’t as sneaky as you think.”
If looks could kill, Zachary would be dead right then and there. Professor Malfoy clearly didn’t appreciate someone getting into his business, which was understandable, but at this moment, that wasn’t Zachary’s priority. He needed to know if his projection of Professor Malfoy and Professor Potter’s relationship was going to be as disastrous as he thought it was.
He was also nosy, sue him.
“Why do you ask such a question, in the first place?” Professor Malfoy retorted, which was a valid question, but it had Zachary sighing in annoyance.
“... I just want to know if I have a chance.” At Malfoy’s scandalised look, he had to rush into clarifying, “Not with either of you! With Lilo! I want to know if I have a chance with Lilo!”
“... I’m afraid I don’t follow.”
Zachary sighed again, but relented in explaining this whole mess that he had put himself in in the first place, “I’m in love with Lilo. And, I don’t know, I’ve been seeing yours and Professor Potter’s relationship since first year, and I keep imagining Lilo and me in your places, with the matching rings and secret smiles, and I just… I don’t know. I think if I know who confessed first, it might make it so in my head it makes sense to give up or pursue a relationship that I don’t even think could happen.”
It was Professor Malfoy’s turn to blink at him, bewildered beyond repair, but at least now he had some context for what was happening. Nonetheless, Professor Malfoy pushed through and simply cleared his throat, looking at him like he was a puzzle that he couldn’t quite figure out.
Zachary couldn’t blame him; he knew that he was a hot mess right now.
“I still don’t quite understand what all that has to do with your question,” Malfoy started, making Zachary deflate a little, “but if it will help you, I suppose it is my duty as your Head of House to help you. Just don’t go around sharing this information, because I will know it was you who babbled.”
“Cross my heart, I will not say anything.”
“Very well,” Despite his words, it seemed like admitting that part of his life was hard on Professor Malfoy, who looked like he had swallowed a whole pint of lemon juice right in that moment, “... It was me. I confessed first. It was after my trial had finished, clearing me of all my crimes; I held him, thanked him for helping clear my name, and confessed my love in front of sodding Granger and Weasley without even thinking about it. It was the high of the moment, I like to think. Just the fact that someone whom I had fought my entire time at Hogwarts fought tooth and nail to clear my name, to let me be a free man… I will never forgive that. I will never repay that. The fact that he loved me back was enough for me.”
Zachary was honestly not expecting the whole spiel, but he wasn’t complaining. Knowing a side of the story, knowing what had transpired behind the scenes, did give him hope; the rivalry between Malfoy and Potter was not a mystery, if anything because Ron Weasley took any chance he had to curse Malfoy for making his Hogwarts years so miserable, but knowing that it had been Harry Potter who helped clear Malfoy’s name, apparently had been the sole defender of the ex-Death Eater, did give him hope.
Because if Malfoy and Potter could survive that and come out the other side loving each other, who’s to say that Lilo and Zachary couldn’t have that as well?
Zachary smiled, his first real smile in weeks, and looked at his professor with twinkling eyes.
“I’m going to follow your lead, then.”
It was on Zachary’s birthday, the one marking him as a 17-year-old, that Lilo Mendoza fell from his broom during the Slytherin-Hufflepuff match.
It happened thanks to a beater from Hufflepuff, Matthias Fern, making an illegal check on Lilo, which had his friend wobble and then fall from his broom. Zachary was on his feet in an instant, rushing down the field and repeating the image of Lilo falling and hitting the field over and over again in his mind. Ignoring the orders from both Professor Malfoy and Professor Potter to stay in his seat, Zachary dashed across the stands. He made it to the field just in time to see Lilo being put on a stretcher by the nurses and rushed to the infirmary, all without allowing Zachary to be with him.
The next thing he did after seeing his best friend, his love, carried away, was look for a particular yellow uniform, which he found in the form of a bastard just now dismounting his broom and looking ashen. But that didn’t matter. That will never matter to him.
Matthias had hurt Lilo.
“Fern, you piece of absolute shit!” Zachary roared, rushing to the Hufflepuff and grabbing him from his shirt, rearing back his arm ready to punch him in the face, “What the fuck was that, huh?!”
“Whoa!”
“Fox, calm down!”
“Zach, don’t do anything stupid!”
All around him, voices had started to shout out, someone grabbing him from behind and pulling him away before he could really punch Matthias Fern on his ugly mug as he deserved. He did get a good kick on the beater when he was dragged away, which had the Hufflepuff double over to check on his knee.
“I’m sorry, Zachary! I— I was just trying—!”
“I don’t fucking care! Let me go right now, Champagne!” Zachary continued to yell, struggling against the hold of the Slytherin captain, Leopold Champagne, “He deserves what I’m about to do to him!”
“I’m not saying he doesn’t, man!” Champagne shouted back, struggling to keep Zachary on his hold, “But that’s not what Mendoza needs right now! What he needs is for his boyfriend to calm down and go be there for him, unless you want to get expelled!”
Zachary stopped struggling when his brain caught up with what Leopold had said, flopping like a kitten when grabbed by the scruff, looking back at the seventh year with an almost murderous look in his eyes.
“What did you just say?”
“Huh?” Champagne looked confused at the sudden change in attitude, slowly letting go of him as if he was testing the waters.
“Why did you call me Lilo’s boyfriend?” Zachary asked, his entire body vibrating with contained rage. He didn’t need an asshole to be mocking him when he wanted to cave someone’s face in.
“What the hell are you saying, Fox? Lilo gushes about you every single day, calls you his ‘niño guapo’, whatever the hell that means. He’s under the impression that you two have been dating since fifth year.”
What.
Not only was Lilo calling him “handsome boy”, which, what? But he was also telling everyone that they were dating?! Since when?!
And why had no one told Zachary?!
Leaving the Quidditch teams behind, he rushed to the infirmary, running as fast as his legs could allow him to. He was out of breath by the time he reached the infirmary, Nurse Lindhorn shaking her head before pointing him in the direction of Lilo’s bed. There he was, finishing a bottle of Skele-Gro without even grimacing, looking sourly at his broken leg while nurses continued to mend to his head with spells and bandages.
Zachary almost collapsed on the spot.
A muffled sob left him, which caused Lilo to smile his blinding smile and make grabby-hands at him, all under the scrutinising look of Head Nurse Bell.
“¡Ahí está mi niño guapo!” ’There’s my handsome boy’. Zachary choked on nothing, approaching the gurney where Lilo was lying and taking his hand, which made Lilo sigh contentedly and look at him with love-filled eyes and oh.
Oh.
Oh, so he was just fucking stupid.
Because that was not the first time Lilo had looked at him like that. It had started to happen during the trip to Mexico, when, under the starlit sky, the two of them had promised to stay together forever, no matter what. At first, Zachary thought he had meant as friends, which he was more than happy to oblige, but looking back, Lilo had that same love-filled look in his eyes when they made that promise. Was that when he thought the two of them started dating? Was Zachary just blind to what he thought he couldn’t have that he hadn’t realised?
Goodness, he was so fucking stupid.
Testing his theory, he bent down to kiss Lilo on the cheek, which had the Latino boy beam up at him as if he had hung up the sun itself. And yep, there it was, the proof Zachary needed to realise that he had agonised over nothing.
Lilo loved him back.
“You scared me,” Zachary whispered, earning a pout from Lilo that had him want to kiss it away.
“‘S not my fault that Matthias shoulder-checked me as hard as he did. He hits like a truck.” Lilo said, looking at him before looking down, picking at his nails before whispering, “... I thought I was going to die without getting to finally kiss you.”
If someone were to ask, Zachary would say that this is the moment he died. Not during his deathbed, but on his seventeenth birthday, when his boyfriend— boyfriend!— confessed to wanting to kiss him.
Oh, he had wasted so much time.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” he whispered back, smiling slightly when Lilo looked back at him with his doe-eyes and a loopy smile on his lips.
“I didn’t wanna pressure you. You’re always so shy, I thought it was the same with kisses and holding hands and stuff.”
“Lilo,” he started, chuckling slightly and making Lilo pout at him, “I didn’t even know we were dating this whole time.”
One of the nurses tending to Lilo hissed between their teeth, and Lilo himself wasn’t doing any better. He was blinking owlishly, looking up at him in absolute bewilderment. It took all of three seconds before he had a reaction from the Mexican boy, which was a short and concise:
“WHAT.”
Seventh year greeted him with the news that Malfoy and Potter had gone public with their marriage. Wizarding Britain was taken aback by the news, surprised by the mere thought of the Saviour of the Wizarding World and an ex-Death Eater being married. Hogwarts students were not faring any better, all scandalised whispers and pointed looks at the professors, who had chosen to ignore and not answer any questions directed their way, claiming that anything they wanted and could know was answered in the Daily Prophet segment that had been released by the couple.
He supposed, though, that he better stop calling Professor Malfoy that way. In the same article that had been released, the heir had confessed to changing his last name to Potter, not wanting anything to tie him to his family and the disgrace that had been Lucius Malfoy as both a father and a human being.
Zachary looked to his right, where Lilo was sleeping soundly and slumped against him, their trip to Lilo’s family house in an aeroplane being calmer now that he could hold his boyfriend’s hand without anyone saying anything to him.
His mum was still not speaking to him. It was his dad who relayed all communications between the two of them, Timothy Fox was clearly torn between his love for his son and his loyalty to his wife. For the time being, Zachary was spending as little time as he could on his childhood home. It was a blessing that he could stay in Hogwarts during holidays, even if Summer Hols were now when he joined the Mendoza family in their celebrations.
With a smile on his lips, he looked out the window, staring at the clouds, and sighed.
He wished his relationship with Lilo could be like the Potters’. He hoped with all his heart.
Because he knew it would be a relationship filled with love for centuries to come.