Chapter Text
Light streams in through large, stained windows in the early hours of the morning as a tall, lanky boy darts down the corridor, his sleek black robe swishing at his ankles. With a sigh, he picks up his pace, rounding a corner and forcing down a yawn. He’s tired, using scabbed knuckles to rub at his eyes, but Tyler is used to waking up early. He’s done it for years now, just so he can spend more time with Josh.
Besides the fact that Josh is, well, a guy, he’s also in a different house than Tyler, which makes their relationship a tad bit complicated (Of course, among other things.) It’s the complications that helped them learn how to sneak around to see one another over the years.
Josh, in Tyler’s opinion, is perhaps the most beautiful person he has ever laid eyes on. He’s only a couple inches shorter, with broad shoulders, a sloped nose, almond shaped eyes and thick, shaggy brown hair that curls at the ends when it gets too long. He talks about dying it all kinds of wacky colours, but knows at a prestigious boarding school like Hogwarts, the high table would not appreciate it as much as him. (Josh has thought of all kinds of ways to get away with it, his best lying about it being some kind of charm. He would never go through with it, though.) Josh is kind, and hardworking, and dedicated, and Tyler would trust Josh with his life. There’s not a bad bone in Josh’s body. Above all though, Tyler’s favourite thing about Josh is his eyes.
Josh’s eyes are the colour of chocolate covered coffee beans, the colour of espresso with fancy foam designs, and they shimmer when the light hits just right. Josh is real humble too, always blushing when Tyler compliments him on anything. Tyler remembers the first time he had spoken to Josh. It had been their first year, their first day actually. September 1st.
Josh had sat across from Tyler on the train, and for a majority of the ride, neither had uttered a word, the only conversation coming from the pair next to them. Tyler had felt like the odd guy out, mostly because he was American, and everyone else here was about as British as you could possibly get. He was a pureblood, born to two extravagant parents, who worked with the Ministry of Magic as ambassadors from the MACUSA. Tyler, eleven at the time, really had no clue what exactly they did, but he had lived in London a good majority of his life, moving to the city at an early age all the way from Columbus, Ohio. His parents had grown up in England, so being back was very refreshing to them. To him, it was very entertaining seeing the faces of witches and wizards twist into confusion at the mention of a state that was not California or New York.
And although his parents were hard at work doing their “work stuff,” Tyler loved his family. He had two brothers, Zack and Jay, and one sister, Maddy, and the lot of them were playful and cooperative with one another. Sure, they got in fights with one another, but most were nothing more than banter that ended in smiles when Tyler caused a flower to grow twice its size or Zack would end up sticking to the wall.
Tyler knew everything there was to know about the wizarding world, enough that when he got his letter in the mail from Hogwarts, his family celebrated.
“You’ll be a Gryffindor just like your old man, I just know it,” his father said, clasping him on the shoulder. Tyler had beamed, his heart soaring the day they went to Diagon Alley to collect all his stuff.
The two British kids that wouldn’t stop talking looked over to Josh, (or as Tyler, not knowing his name at the time, referred to him as ghost, because he was p-a-l-e pale,) and asked him some question related to their conversation. Tyler hadn’t really been paying attention to know what the heck they were talking about in the first place.
“What house you think you’ll get put in?”
Josh shrugged limply, his sweater two times too big for him. He hadn’t changed into his robes yet. “I dunno. Haven’t really thought about it much.”
Both the kids eyes lit up in surprise, the shorter one with sandy hair exclaiming, “Blimey, are both of you Americans?”
Tyler’s eyes had been wide as well. Another American kid? He wasn’t going to be alone!
“Erhm,” Josh’s hands fidgeted in his lap, his knee shaking like it had the whole trip. “I guess. My mom works for this big corporation wanting to extend into Europe, so we’ve been living there for like five years now.”
“Is your mum a muggle?”
Josh blinked. “What?”
“No-maj?” Tyler translated for him. Josh still looked confused, so Tyler simplified things even more. “Somebody who isn’t a wizard.”
“Oh. Uh, yeah.”
“What about your father?”
“He’s uh, an artist.”
The sandy haired kid gasped, his nose scrunching up in mild disgust. “You... you’re a mudblood!”
The girl slapped him gently on the knee. “Don’t use that kind of language! Being muggle-born doesn’t mean you got anything wrong with you.”
“My cousin’s a witch if that means anything,” Josh spoke up from his corner, not even slightly insulted. Tyler assumed it was because he didn’t know the venom behind the statement. “I think my great grandmother might have been as well.”
“Exactly,” the girl said, “he’s still got magic running through his veins.” She turned towards Josh and smiled. “What was your name again?”
“Josh,” he said softly.
“Don’t worry Josh, you’ll learn everything there is to know at this school. Just hope you get Gryffindor. My parents say that’s the best house.”
“Sure,” Josh had nodded, turning back towards the window. The girl and the boy with the sandy hair melted back into their conversation about class, but this time Tyler was preoccupied by the brown haired boy across from him.
That hadn’t been the end of their conversation either, because Tyler had sat down next to Josh as they crossed an icy lake in small rowboats, and even as they had gathered in the Great Hall awaiting the sorting ceremony. Tyler learned that Josh had two sisters and a brother, the exact opposite of Tyler, who were much, much younger. He also learned that Josh was very musically talented, building his own drumkit in his bedroom out of paint cans and scotch tape.
“If it weren’t for the fact that I’m a wizard, I don’t think the tape would be doing a good job of holding everything together,” he admitted sheepishly. Tyler grinned, infatuated, (even though he had no clue what a drumkit was.)
The two listened intently as a professor (once again, Tyler hadn’t been listening closely enough to catch his name. He thought it started with an F) explained the houses of the school and how the ceremony would work.
“Better pray to God you aren’t a Hufflepuff,” one of the first years whispered. Tyler rolled his eyes and nudged Josh gently.
“All the pure of heart people are Hufflepuffs. My mom was one. They aren’t bad at all,” he promised. Josh swallowed nervously and nodded his head.
Almost as if it was fate, Josh had ended up in the Hufflepuff house, as Tyler would later learn fit him perfectly. Tyler himself however, had ended up with a little bit of an anticlimactic experience.
“An American, huh?” the hat whispered in his ear as Tyler stared at the dusty inside where the brim had slid over his eyes. “We always get a few of you every school year. Usually less, on account of Ilvermorny, but your parents are pretty wicked, aren’t they? A Gryffindor an’ a Hufflepuff, what an interesting pair. There’s something in you that feels strange. Potential maybe? I feel like you have potential to do something...” the hat trails off. “Nevermind that. You’re talented, smart, and ooh, quite ambitious, aren’t you? You’ll take care of your kind, I can see that.” there was a brief pause before the sorting hat shouted, “SLYTHERIN!” sending Tyler stumbling off the chair like an idiot. His tongue felt swollen as he made his way to the cheering Slytherin table where he was greeted with handshakes and pats on the back.
Tyler knew this was the house had that the most dark wizards. He knew this was where the evil people went. What did the hat mean anyways, about him having potential? Potential to do what? How could he have been put into a house of evil when his father came from bravery and his mother from loyalty?
The sorting hat was never wrong, and Tyler’s gut had clenched.
Now, five years later, in his second to last year at Hogwarts, Tyler’s proud to be a Slytherin. He knows who he is as a person, and his parents had even been okay with it. They had been wary at first, but Tyler had expected that.
“There is nothing wrong with being a Slytherin,” his mother had told him when he had come home for Christmas break that same year. “Every house has their fair share of dark witches and wizards. And you sweetheart, you are brilliant and creative, just like most Slytherins. I had friends that were Slytherins. Your father had friends that were Slytherins. It doesn’t make you a bad person. You guys got reputation, and destined for greatness nonetheless.” she kissed his forehead and chuckled when Tyler groaned.
He was nice to everyone that was nice to him, and Tyler was the best damn seeker the Slytherin house ever had (okay, maybe not true, but he still thought he was pretty damn good.) So yeah. He was fine.
Josh is in his usual place, sitting at the bottom of a long, marble staircase. He looks up at Tyler with the sound of approaching footsteps and grins, adjusting his striped yellow tie tucked away under his robes. “Hey, stranger.”
“Hey to you too, stranger,” Tyler grins as he drops down next to Josh and slips an arm around his shoulders, burying his slender fingers in the baby hairs at the nape of Josh’s neck. Josh lets out a small yelp as Tyler kisses him, knocking his back against the handrail of the staircase. Tyler grins, pushing harder, using his other hand to bunch up the hood of his robe. Josh moans.
“Damn Tyler, I love you,” he mumbles, tilting his chin up as Tyler’s lips slid down to the skin right under his jaw. “Right there, right there.”
A low whistle splits the two apart, Tyler’s collar crooked as he wipes his mouth with the back of his head and looks up at the beady eyes of the Bloody Baron.
Tyler knows “Mr. Baron” doesn’t talk very much, so he’s praying he won’t say anything. “Hey.”
The ghost raises an eyebrow, a glint in his eye as a small smirk rises to his lips. Tyler sighs.
“I remember young love,” Baron says. Josh looks terrified. “Might want to take some more safety precautions, hmm?” One smile later, he floats through a wall and disappears. Josh still looks scared, his eyebrows knitted together and his shoulders tense. Tyler leans forward to rest a hand on his shoulder and squeezes gently.
“He’s not gonna tell anyone J. Promise. He barely talks to his own house; he isn’t going to talk to anyone else.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.” Tyler grins as he leans forward to kiss Josh’s cheek. He smooths out the wrinkles in Josh’s robe, fixes his collar, and stands up, offering him a hand. “He’s right though. Maybe the staircase isn’t the best idea. It might be time to find another place.”
With a sigh, Josh reaches out to fix Tyler’s own clothes, his fingers running over the coarse fabric of his forest green tie and the inside of his hood. He’s always been a little jealous that Tyler got to wear green and he was stuck with yellow.
“We could try the dungeons.”
Tyler snorts. “That’s where the Slytherin common room is.”
“There’s other places. I’ll think of something.” Josh smiles. “Any time with you is time well spent.”
“We have our opening game on Friday, you gonna come watch?”
“Of course I will. Just don’t lose the cup this time, okay?” Josh laughs and ducks as Tyler swats a hand his way. “Okay, sorry. I know you’re the bestest seeker there is.”
“Damn right,” Tyler exclaims, trailing his fingers over Josh’s hand. It’s cold and dry, quite like the weather. “I’ll see you after breakfast, okay? We can go for a walk ‘round the castle.”
“I’d like that,” Josh nods, slipping his hands away from underneath Tyler’s fingers. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
-
After a large breakfast, (Tyler hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he was on his fourth omelette,) Tyler meets Josh outside, grinning when he finds him picking grass out of the ground. The sun shines high, but there’s still a frigid chill in the air. Tyler isn’t really surprised; after all, it is November. “Hey.”
Josh picks himself off the ground with a smile and fixes his coat and scarf. “You seemed hungry.”
“Yeah dude, I didn’t even realize how hungry I was until I sat down. Mad, huh?” Tyler twirls his wand between his fingers as he starts walking down the path, Josh trailing after him. It’s blackthorn wood, 11 3/4 inches, with phoenix feathers and minimal flexibility. Tyler has some weird connection with it, something he just can’t explain. The man at the wand shop had told him it was a normal thing. He had also told Tyler to “be careful, because blackthorn is not only rare, but susceptible to the dark arts.”
No wonder he had been put in Slytherin.
“Here,” Tyler pauses, holding his hand out in front of Josh as he flicks his wand upwards and watches a row of daisies grow across the barren landscape. Josh rolls his eyes as Tyler picks a few and puts them in his hands.
“Nerd.”
Tyler laughs. “I try. Hey, whatcha got today?”
“Herbology with the Ravenclaws. Mark told me he’s thrilled.” Josh scoffs, picking the petals off the flowers as they walk. Mark was a friend of theirs, another American believe it or not, a half blood who was more interested in modern day technology than magic. He had withdrawals at the start of every school year without his phone or computer, but for some reason really took an interest to all the boring subjects, like plants. “I don’t understand how he can think that plants are... interesting. Like, I understand that they’re dangerous and all, but I don’t get it.”
“Well Josh, you didn’t have to take an advanced herbology class you know.”
Josh pouts. “I know. I’m good at it, that’s the problem.”
“Well, I’ve got potions after this with the Gryffindors. Absolutely annoying in my opinion that we’re always with them. They all seem to think we’re evil or something. Plus it always makes me think of my dad. I know it’s been a few years, and my parents seem fine with the fact that I am a Slytherin, I just, I feel like my dad wishes I was a Gryffindor like him, you know? And you know, my brother, Zack, he’s a second year Gryffindor and the pair are always talking about classes and schedules and Quidditch and all this stuff that he never discusses with me. I know it only happens over break and they’re only trying to catch up, but still.”
Josh stops in the middle of the path, letting all his flower petals fall to the dirt below, and pulls Tyler into a hug. “Your parents love you.”
“I know that J.”
“I think you’re perfect the way you are.” Chapped lips press a kiss to rough stubble on Tyler’s jaw, fingers trailing only shortly behind. Tyler can’t grow enough facial hair for a beard or anything, not yet anyways, but it’s always rough and comforting. “We can’t all have the same personality. That’d be boring.”
Tyler chuckles a little as he pulls away, still rolling his wand between his fingers. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Lose your head is what you’d do,” Josh beams, winking, before he takes off running, his robes billowing out from behind him. Tyler chases him in laughter, pointing his wand playfully as he mutters “Confundo,” under his breath and Josh trips over his own feet, rolling in the grass a few times before blinking. Tyler is quick to straddle him, a smirk on his face as he continues to twirl his wand proudly.
“You did not just do that.”
“Had to stop you somehow, huh?” he bends down to kiss Josh, but this time it’s a lot more passionate than this morning. They’re secluded, hidden by trees, lost in cold grass with nothing but each other for company. Tyler wishes it could always be like this. He wishes he didn’t have to go to his dorm, in his house, without Josh by his side. He wishes Josh could come with him everywhere, could be there sleeping next to him. He wishes he could tell his parents more about Josh besides the fact that they were friends. (They didn’t see each other much over the summer break. Josh’s family usually traveled, leaving Tyler to pout and settle with video call.)
“You’re thinking,” Josh whispers, padding fingertips behind Tyler’s ear. With a grunt, Tyler rolls off of the older boy and lets the cold sink into him.
“Nothing important. Only wishes.” Tyler smiles, not wanting to bother Josh with anything that might worry or make him upset. “Hey, I just remembered something I was thinking about the other day.”
Josh is frowning still, obviously still upset Tyler was keeping something from him, but he humours Tyler anyway. “Huh?”
With a smug grin, Tyler sits up, pointing his wand at the brunette’s head, and seconds later red sparks come shooting out, sending Josh scurrying away. He coughs a few times, expression melting into annoyance. “Jesus Tyler, what are you doing?”
Tyler chuckles, smoothing out his robe as Josh runs a hand through his hair. His bright green hair. “I appreciate your support for my house Josh, but you really should be more supportive of your own.”
Josh’s nostrils flare. “What?” he’s running again in seconds, Tyler chasing after him, still laughing, calling out that “he looks good in green,” but by now Josh does not believe him. Other students whisper amongst themselves as Josh barrels back into the hall and down to the restroom. He gasps the minute he catches his appearance in the mirror.
“You charmed me?”
“You said you wanted to see what your hair looked like when it was a different colour, so... you’re welcome.”
Josh turns back towards the mirror and leans forward a little, tucking a green curl behind his ear. “It’s not... bad.”
“Nah. You look good actually. I like it. Matches my house colours.”
“You’re such an ass,” Josh mutters, pivoting on his heel to leave with his robe fluttering behind him for pure dramatic effect (If Tyler had to guess; Josh was quite the drama queen.) Tyler sniggers, following him once more, because messing with Josh is his favourite thing to do. His face always got all squinty when he was annoyed.
The two round a corner, and run right into Professor Flitwick, the boy’s Charms teacher. He grins, crossing his arms, while Josh’s cheeks blossom into a dark shade of red and he ducks his head to avoid eye contact.
“Boys, what is going on here? Why is your hair green?” the short man scoffs, the realization coming to him. “Ahh, Colovaria. Mr. Joseph, care to explain?”
“Nothing but a joke sir. I can fix it.”
Professor Flitwick shakes his head, obviously irritated, and with a wave of his hand all the green drains away back to dark brown. “Five points deducted from Slytherin, let’s keep things a bit more professional, shall we? At least, during the school day.” with a wink, the professor waddles away, leaving Tyler with a toothy grin and Josh the colour of strawberries.
“Worth it,” Tyler says.
Josh rolls his eyes.
-
“Tyler, this is not smart, you know I’m not allowed in here-”
“Josh don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”
“Tyler, I don’t believe you.” Josh tugs away, twisting his fingers together. “There’s going to be people in there, other Slytherins, they’re going to notice I’m not-”
“Josh.” Tyler grabs ahold of Josh’s shoulders and shakes gently. “I know what I’m doing. You trust me, right?”
“Of course I do.” his eyes wander around the damp walls of the dungeon before settling on Tyler’s warm face.
“This is much better than sneaking around the corridors. You heard the ghost. Besides, no one ever said we couldn’t invite others in. It’s probably like a social contact or something.”
“I don’t know, I still don’t feel good about this Ty.”
“Alright then, fine.” Tyler unbuttons his cloak and thrusts it into Josh’s shaking hands. “There, now no one will ever know. ‘Sides J, everyone’s at dinner. No one is going to be in here.”
His shoulders sag. “I guess you’re right. Someone could still be in there though-”
Tyler drowns out Josh’s worry long enough to say the password, and the slick stones move gracefully, arranging a passway for the pair to cross through. Tyler slips his hand around Josh’s wrist and yanks him through the doorway, Josh squeaking in surprise.
“You haven’t even given me a chance to put on your cloak!”
“It’s a loophole Josh, I found a loophole. Six years here and nobody has ever exactly come into other common rooms, now have they? Now I know of two times someone’s come in, there was the time with the polyjuice potion in ‘92 here in my common room, and another in the Ravenclaw. I’ve always wondered what that common room looks like; how Mark explains it, I assume there’s a lot of blue.” Tyler shakes his head, his brow furrowed in concentration now that he’s thinking about it. “Anyways, don’t you think the founders would have put more security over the entrances if they really minded? You know the password now, you can get in. So even if we get caught, we can’t get in trouble because there isn’t a rule.”
“You’ve thought hard about this, haven’t you?” Josh asks, still frowning. Tyler nods.
“Yes. Welcome, by the way.” Tyler gestures to the room in front of them with his whole arm, a smirk sliding comfortably back onto his face as Josh gapes, quite like the younger boy had done his first year. Partially hidden underneath the lake, the room has a mysterious, green tint to it, which brings relaxation to Tyler every time he steps foot in the vast space. Green tapestries adorn the room, as well as dark, mahogany wooden cabinets, velvet green chairs, and leather couches. Josh trails his fingers over the serpent carved into the fireplace mantle and looks up at the large, smiling portrait of the Slytherin head Horace Slughorn. The Potions teacher waves, and disappears out the frame.
“Wow, this place is... interesting,” Josh says, bunching up the fabric of Tyler’s cloak in his hand. Tyler shrugs.
“It’s cozy. At night you can hear the water swishing. It’s relaxing, to me at least.” He cocks an eyebrow at Josh’s unamused face. “What? Your pansy Hufflepuff common room better?”
Josh huffs. “Uh, yeah. It’s warm, and bright, and yellow.”
“Pfft. Lame.”
“Shut up Tyler. I like it there. And unlike you, not a single non-Hufflepuff has entered in centuries. We follow the rules.”
“Well, there isn’t a rule, so I’m not breaking anything. Come on now, if you don’t wanna get caught.” he moves deeper into the common room, leading Josh down a dark hallway lit with torches. When the two approach the door at the end of the hallway, Tyler winks, and pushes in. The room’s round, ancient four post beds with green silk hangings laid around the edge. Tyler leads Josh to the bed farthest away from the door, right next to a window with greenish water swirling around. He sits down and pats the spot next to him. “Sometimes I see the squid. That thing is huge.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
“What can you see from your window?”
“Uhhh...” Josh’s face turns red, “Dandelions.”
Tylers lets out a bark and falls onto his back. “Dandelions. I love it. Josh, you’re perfect.”
“Nah,” Josh replies, flopping down next to the younger boy. The two of them stare up at the ceiling. “How were your classes?”
“Fine. I still have a crapton of homework to get finished. Hey, at least we have Defense Against the Dark Arts together tomorrow.”
“Maybe we can get paired up again,” Josh’s grin widens, making his eyes all crinkly, and Tyler’s heart swoons. He often wonders how he got so lucky.
“One can hope.”
“Hey uhm,” Josh rolls over to prop himself up on his elbow, “remember earlier, when you changed my hair colour? Did you actually like it?”
“Of course I did. I’d like to see it different colours maybe, some day.”
“Me too. I think maybe, after we graduate, I might do that, permanently. Kinda scary thinking about the future, huh?”
Tyler shrugs. “I feel like I’ll sort of just follow my parents around. I’d like to do more than that, though. Like, invent spells. Experiment further with magic. I get good enough marks, I understand this stuff, so who knows.”
“I’d like to teach Astronomy,” Josh says, beaming, and his enthusiasm lights up the dark room. “Either be a professor here or go over to Ilvermorny. I miss the states.”
“I don’t remember much about them, honestly. Just that it was cold. I lived in Ohio, so it wasn’t anything thrilling.”
“I like it here. A lot, actually. Finding out I had been a wizard had kind of been a slap in the face.” Tyler remembers the story Josh had told him all those years ago. He thought he had been an alien adopted by human parents. When he was too lazy to get up to get something, sometimes the object with just... appear in his bed. During Christmas one year, he had knocked the Christmas tree down just by thinking about it. And another time, he touched a dead flower, and it swelled back with life. Getting that letter had been the best thing to happen to him. Josh’s parents had been confused, until some diving into their family lineage revealed things they hadn’t even know. Josh had been lucky his parents had been so supportive.
Tyler also remembers that Josh had brought muggle pens to school instead of quills, and someone from the Hufflepuff house had been nice enough to share, unlike everyone else who just laughed. Josh’s face had been the reddest Tyler had ever seen that day.
The two would spend every minute they could talking, usually meeting in the library, unlocked classrooms, or the gardens. Growing up knowing he was a wizard, hearing Josh’s stories about the things he did, the games he played, his hobbies, was quite weird to Tyler. But he supposed the stories he told Josh were just as weird.
“I like it here too. Mostly because you’re here with me.” Josh clucks his tongue at Tyler’s cheesy remark, but doesn’t pull away when Tyler leans forward to kiss him. Tyler’s kisses are soft, gentle, and make Josh feel warm, like he’s laying on a beach out in the sun. His fingers move quick, loosening Josh’s tie, unbuttoning his cloak, trying to remove layers, just to touch skin. They’ve never done anything more than kissing, per Josh’s privacy, and Tyler is perfectly okay with that. Josh’s happiness is what matters to him the most.
“I love you,” Josh says after a few minutes, his voice breathy. Tyler hums against his lips, his fingers clenching over his shoulder. “Breaking the rules was totally worth it.”
“You weren’t breaking any rules though,” Tyler fights back, his grip tightening. Josh pulls apart long enough to look him in the eyes and scowl.
“Sounds like something a Slytherin would say.”
“You got me.” the corners of Josh’s lips tilt into a smile, and he dives back in to kiss Tyler once more. The two aren’t sure how long it lasts; they lose track of time, and come to their senses right as stomping echoes throughout the hallway and the door to the boy’s dorm is thrown open. Josh barely has enough time to drop to the floor and hide under the bed before a group of Slytherin boys enter. Tyler settles himself back against his pillow and slides his hands behind his head, trying to look casual. He knows his robes and tie are a bit askew though.
“Why weren’t you at dinner, Tyler?” asks a tall, skinny boy named James. He has a hooked nose and a large mole on his cheek. He sort of reminds Tyler of a crow.
“Wasn’t hungry. I’ve been feeling sorta sick today actually.”
“Do you need someone to take you to the infirmary?”
“Nah, I’m probably just going to sleep it off. I’m sure I’ll feel better in the morning.” he flashes a fake smile and buries under his blankets, turning on his side to let the boys know he’s really ready to go to bed. The boys are all laughing, grabbing stuff out of their trunks and off their beds.
“Alright, we’ll see you later Joseph.” After a few more minutes of scurrying footsteps and the boys are gone, plunging the room into darkness. Tyler leans over the edge and grins when he sees Josh poke his head out.
“That was a close one,” Josh whispers, pulling himself out from under the bed. He buttons up his shirt, tightens his tie, and fixes his robes. “A really close one. I dunno if this was a good idea-”
“Josh.” Tyler’s slid off the bed at this point and threaded his fingers with Josh’s to stop him from worrying. “You worry too much.”
Josh sighs. “I know.”
“We’re fine, okay? We’ll find a new place if you want. Just, I’m kind of getting tired of having to find new places for us to sneak around.”
“I know. I just, I don’t want to get expelled.”
“Josh, we aren’t going to get expelled for being in a relationship.”
“People are going to say things, you know that. We’ll get points taking away for sneaking around, we might not even be able to talk again if people found out, if our parents found out, if-”
“Then no one finds out. There’s spells I know, spells that can make people forget. No one is going to find out, I promise.”
“Alright then. I trust you. I’m sorry for worrying all the time.”
“It’s okay Josh. I know it’s just who you are.” Tyler smiles, runs his hands down Josh’s arms, and presses a small kiss to his lips. Josh relaxes. “Alright, let’s get you back to your own house.” They walk out of the boy’s dormitory and through the common room, all the way to the entrance.
“I’ll see you in class tomorrow, okay? We can go study at the library later, if you want.”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
-
“Ugh, the amount of homework I have is absolutely ridiculous.” Josh scowls as drops his books onto the table. Tyler peers over at him from the essay he’s currently writing for his Transfiguration class.
“You know you’d be so more less stressed if you dropped Astronomy. It’s kind of a pointless class-”
“Oh shut up Tyler.” Josh rolls his eyes, but there’s a smile on his face. “You know I love this stuff.”
“I know, I know.” he drums his fingers on the tabletop and sighs before picking up his quill again. “I’ve got a paper due tomorrow in Transfiguration. I have the introduction written and that’s about it. This sucks.”
“Hmm, let me see.” Josh reaches over to grab Tyler’s paper, right as Mark sits down next to him. Mark looks cheery, his bright blue tie nice against the contrast of his pale skin.
“Hey guys.”
“Mark,” Tyler nods, leaning back against his chair. With the three of them being the only Americans at Hogwarts, (that they knew of, at least, and okay, Tyler's brother does not count) the trio had developed a pretty good friendship over the years, despite being in different houses. To most, their friendship was odd. Most friendships were developed inside with their own people. And it wasn’t like they didn’t have friends inside their own houses; Tyler had a great bond with the entire Slytherin Quidditch team, (After all, he was the captain,) one of his closest friends being a kid named Dan Smith, the keeper for the team. In the end though, Mark and Josh were who he turned to for everything.
“You guys look loaded down. Tyler, you didn’t finish that paper days ago?” Mark was also kind of an overachiever, which made sense with him being a Ravenclaw and all.
“No Mark, I didn’t.”
“Tough luck man. That’s what you get for procrastinating.” Mark grins, and Tyler rolls his eyes. Josh continues to read.
“Tyler, your introduction is really strong.”
“Thank you Josh.” Tyler shoots Mark a glare.
“What’d you write your paper about?”
“Bird conjuring.”
Mark blows a raspberry and drags his words out nice and slow. “Booooorrrriiiinnnggg.”
“Shut up Mark, you like plants.” Josh peers at the Ravenclaw boy over the top of Tyler’s paper, his eyes narrowed, and Mark shuts up.
When Tyler gets his paper back, he opens up a textbook and continues writing while Josh starts to pull out stuff from his Astronomy class. Mark watches, pretending to be bored, as he wiggles his wand between his fingers and picks out dirt from underneath his nails. Annoyed, Tyler puts down his quill again and looks back up.
“Hey Mark, what’s the Ravenclaw tower look like?”
“None of your business,” Mark replies without looking up. “Do your paper.”
“Then get out of here.”
Mark grumbles, but seconds later he’s up, strolling through the library and out the door. Tyler settles comfortably knowing Mark the nuisance is gone.
“You don’t need to be so rude to him you know,” Josh mumbles, finally opening his textbook and smoothing out a scroll of paper. “I know he’s a know-it-all, but he is our friend.”
“I’m just trying to concentrate J, or else I’m not going to finish this paper. You know how stressed I already am. We have the opening game tomorrow, and we’re playing Gryffindor. With all the practicing I’ve been doing, I haven’t had much time for homework.”
“And you’re going to do great Ty, just as you have before. You’re the captain man, people love you. You take care of your team.”
That gets Tyler to smile. “Thanks. Man, I can’t wait to beat those bastards. You know my brother’s on the team this year? Little turd tried to keep it a secret that he’s their new seeker, but rumours spread fast.” he shakes his head. “Idiot brother.”
“Be a little nicer Tyler, he is your brother after all.” Josh looks up from his textbook, where he had been watching a picture of the solar system move in circles. “Honestly though, I hope you beat Gryffindor too. They’ve been quite rude to us lately. There is nothing wrong with being a Hufflepuff, honestly.” with a shake of his head, Josh goes back to reading. “Now do your paper Tyler, I know what you’re doing. Quit procrastinating.”
Tyler only grumbles under his breath.
-
The next morning, Tyler is nervous beyond all belief. He usually is, the day of a game.
He’s wearing his lucky green socks and nervously picking at some toast with jam. He gets nudged in the stomach.
“Eat,” Dan says. Tyler scowls.
“Everything is iced over out there.”
“We’re going to do fine. Why am I the one telling you this?”
“You can be captain when I leave Dan.”
“Not how it works Joseph. Now eat and quit flipping out.” Tyler scowls again.
By half past ten, everyone is out in the pitch, settling in the stands. It’s freezing outside, everyone in at least three layers, gathered with those from their own house (with of course the exception of Mark and Josh, sitting next to each other.)
The Slytherin team files into the locker room to change into their green robes. Tyler feels a bit better, and more confident as he looks around at his teammate’s faces.
“We’re going to beat those bastards,” he says, starting off some speech, as most look towards the captain to usually do, “And win the House Cup. We are not losing to the Gryffindors again, not like last year. We got a great team, and we will do whatever it takes,” Tyler pounds his fist into his other hand, “to win.”
The boys cheer, and minutes later, they walk onto the field to face their crimson opponents. Tyler spots Zack nervously looking around the pitch and scoffs a little. This is going to be too easy.
He also catches Josh, standing on his tiptoes, with a large grin, his yellow scarf charmed to flicker green for only a few seconds at a time, far too fast for anyone to catch if they simply were to blink. Tyler’s heart feels warm, and he feels even more confident. They weren’t going to lose to stupid Gryffindors, not on his watch.
The flying teacher, Madam Johnson, was the game’s referee. She was an older woman, with long brown hair tied back into a ponytail. Tyler remembers his first flying lesson with her. She spent hours drowning on about the now retired Madam Hooch and everything that “brave woman” did for Hogwarts. She was nice, don’t get him wrong, but... Tyler’s sort of glad he hasn’t had a class with her since. It was enough for him to have Madam Johnson referee.
“Okay now everyone, I want a fair game, and I want no one to get hurt.” She glances over at the Slytherin team, to which Tyler rolls his eyes. He knows his team is more than well known for causing their fair share of problems.
She calls for them to mount their brooms, which Tyler happily complies, mounting his Firebolt Supreme he had received as a Christmas gift his fourth year of Hogwarts. Tyler catches his brother’s eye, and smiles a toothy, chilling grin. Zack gulps, looking towards the ground and away from his older brother.
The whistle blows, and Tyler shoots up into the air, higher, higher, higher, until he feels like he’s in the clouds. Cold air hits his face and his eyes dart around, looking for the snitch.
The commentator, a fifth year Ravenclaw called Jimmy Wood, (Or Woody, as everyone calls him,) begins narrating the game.
“And both teams are off, the Quaffle immediately taken by Gryffindor chaser Ethan Cunningham - wait, no - holy cow, Slytherin now have the Quaffle, nice pass to Lucas Knox, who aims to score, and OOOH! A solid block from Keeper Veronica Ott!”
Tyler tunes out Woody, flying a little higher, squinting for any sign of gold. There’s a whoosh of air next to him, and he tilts his broomstick downwards just fast enough to avoid getting knocked off by a bludger.
“Sorry Tyler!” shouts Jake Graves, one of the Slytherin Beaters. Tyler watches him zoom after the bludger, and focuses back on the grey sky.
Down in the stands, Josh squints, trying to watch Tyler, although most of the game is going on lower to the ground.
“Gryffindor’s got the quaffle now, Max Donahue coming in quickly, he shoots, and it’s blocked by Slytherin Keeper Dan Smith - bloody hell, that’s gotta hurt, - Gryffindor Chaser Katie Riley gets hit in the elbow with the bludger sent her way by Jake Graves! Knox shoots, Keeper Ott dives, and AHH! FOLKS, SLYTHERIN SCORES!”
Josh cheers with the rest of the Slytherins, although his is much quieter, hoping not to draw too much attention. He leans back and looks over at Mark. “You know, there’s a lot of fault I find in this game. Like the fact there’s no time limit, the point system in general, don’t even get me started, and people can get seriously injured if someone’s too rough-”
“Josh, hush. I don’t want to hear any of your weird No-Maj stuff right now; watch the game.” Mark raises his old pair of binoculars back to his eyes and leans forward. Josh pouts, and goes back to looking for Tyler.
Tyler, who grins at the mention of his team scoring, and zips even higher into the air for nothing more than thrills. He loves flying more than anything in the world. Up here, he wasn’t defined by his house, or called out by his parents; up here, Tyler was nothing more than Tyler.
“Gryffindor Captain and Beater Seth Kramer manages to block the bludger zooming his way with a backhand, send from Dominic Merritt, which bounces towards Riley again... and BLOCKED by Alexander Pattinson! The Slytherins have the quaffle again, no, stolen by the Gryffindors, Cunningham makes the pass to Donahue, Smith dives, and BLOCKS THE SHOT!”
“Keep it up Dan,” Tyler murmurs, steering his broom into a sharp left turn. That’s when he spots it - a flicker of gold, zooming back down towards the rings. Tyler dives, closer, closer, closer...
When a bludger hits him right in the gut.
With an oomph, Tyler spins, his broom swerving wildly as he grasps it with one hand to keep from plummeting to his death. Pain rockets through his entire body.
“Did you see that folks? Slytherin Captain and Seeker Tyler Joseph was almost knocked off his broom by a bludger! And what’s this? The snitch has been spotted, Gryffindor’s seeker Zack Joseph is really flying, chasing after that thing - and yes folks, the two are brothers! We have a little sibling rivalry going on!”
“Come on Tyler,” Josh murmurs under his breath, tapping a comforting rhythm on his knees.
In the air, after Tyler manages to clamber back onto his broomstick, he’s flying once more, diving towards Zack chasing the snitch. He sees it too; a flashing, tiny ball with wings, fluttering like a delicate butterfly. Tyler growls, heading full force towards his brother, planning on sending him falling to the ground.
“Slytherin Joseph is back on his feet - rather, broom, - and zipping towards his brother at an alarming speed, but he can’t be planning to hit him, can he?”
The stands are on the edge of their seats watching the Joseph brothers fight for the snitch; even the chasers seem to forget they’re supposed to be playing a game. Tyler’s skinnier, faster too, he reaches out past Zack, and WHAM! Hits him hard, sending Zack and his broom spiralling.
“FOUL!” the Gryffindors scream, and Zack glares at Tyler as he climbs back onto his broom.
A free shot is given to those crimson wearing bastards, putting the score at 10-10. Tyler’s not worried though, even if the snitch had disappeared once more. He goes back to circling the pitch, high in the sky, keeping a close eye out for the snitch and his dumb brother.
“Okay then, Slytherin Captain Tyler Joseph did plan on brutally knocking his brother out of the sky, okay, the Slytherins have been penalized, and the game continues.”
“Stupid,” Tyler mutters, rolling his eyes, as he makes another turn and dives out of the way of a bludger whizzing past his head. He’s not going to lie, he has a lot of resentment towards his brother, because Zack is a Gryffindor, his father is a Gryffindor, and Tyler’s not.
He wishes Zack would have fell.
Woody is back to commentating. “Gryffindors have the Quaffle, Riley passes to Cunningham, Cunningham dives, passes to Donahue, Donahue dodges a bludger, shoots, Smith attempts to block... GRYFFINDOR SCORES!” There are cheers from the Gryffindor side, moans from the Slytherin side, and Woody adds a quick, “Thank God,” to which a professor lectures him on.
“Sorry,” he mutters, and in seconds he’s back to speaking. Tyler’s completely blocked him out at this point; the Gryffindors might be ahead, but they still have a chance, if only he could find that damn snitch...
“A bludger has hit Slytherin Keeper Dan Smith in the face! OUCH! Chaser Ethan Cunningham manages to shoot the Quaffle in twice, putting the Gryffindors up thirty points! Slytherins are lagging behind!”
Tyler sees Zack dive, and he reacts quickly, shooting, leaning forward towards the ground, following the flash of gold he caught out of the corner of his eye. His robes billow behind him, the frigid air cold against his skin, and nothing matters, as he zooms closer, closer, closer...
His hand outstretched, Tyler can see it, feel it, his gloved hand wraps around the snitch, and he manages to pull up on his broomstick before he hits the ground. His stick jerks, and Tyler topples to the grass, a mad grin on his face as he pushes himself up and shoves his right hand high in the air, fingers clenching the snitch twitching in his hand.
“And Slytherin WINS, 160 POINTS TO 40!” The stands fill with cheers, mostly from Slytherins, and only moans can be heard from the Gryffindors. Tyler notices Zack glaring at him from the air. He doesn’t care.
Later, after he’s changed, Tyler’s with Mark and Josh in the garden, taking a walk to let off some excitement. Mark keeps telling Tyler how incredible the game was, his hands moving all over the place.
“Dude, when you almost got knocked off your broom, I thought you were dead, and you frickin’, you climbed back up, and caught that snitch like that! Ahh dude, that game was awesome. I can not wait until the next one. The Ravenclaws are going to destroy the Hufflepuffs.” Mark ignores Josh's playful pout.
“Thanks,” Tyler replies, still grinning. There’s an ugly bluish-red bruise on his side, but Tyler’s too excited to care. They won their first game of the season, against those stupid Gryffindors.
“I can’t believe you tried knocking your brother off his broom,” Josh scolds him, his brow furrowed and lips twisted into a frown. “He’s younger than you Tyler, he could have gotten seriously hurt.”
Tyler shrugs. “He’s fine Josh, I wasn’t trying to actually injure him.”
“Didn’t seem that way,” mumbles Josh.
“But we still won, Josh. Aren’t you happy for me?”
“Of course I am! I knew you guys were going to win.” Josh smiles, for the first time since they met up. “Would you want to meet at the library later tonight?”
Tyler knows what that’s code for, and his grin widens. “I would love too.”
“You guys want to celebrate with homework?” Mark shakes his head. “You two are seriously strange.”
“You have no idea,” Tyler says, winking at Josh.
Mark scowls.
-
Tyler stands at the edge of the Forbidden Forest in his pajamas, not quite sure why he’s out here so late at night. He’s shivering, his arms wrapped tightly around his torso, because he didn’t even bother to bring a coat. He knows he could get in some serious trouble for sneaking out, but he doesn’t care.
He had heard whispers, someone with a raspy voice calling his name. It was weird too, because it sounded like the voice was at the back of his head, just like the sorting hat had been.
“ Tyler, Forbidden foressst,” it called, and that’s how Tyler found himself here. It had started after dinner, and continued through a long night of celebrating their win against Gryffindor. It had been bothering him all night.
He takes a step forward, closer to the edge. Tyler had only been in the forest a total of two other times; once for a detention, and the other for a class on magical creatures.
“That’s right, closer, closssser...”
He sort of wants to scream. The voice gets louder, and louder, and then...
It’s not there at all.
Tyler blinks and looks around. He sees no one. “Hello? Is there someone out there?”
“Look down.”
So he does, and to his surprise, finds a snake. It’s huge, with brown spots on its back.
Tyler squeaks, jumping back, as the snake curls around itself and raises its head, its tongue flickering. He had no clue there were snakes out in the forest. Tyler assumed there were only magical creatures out there.
“Tyler Josssssseph,” the snake speaks. Speaks.
Tyler blinks. “You can talk?”
“Yes I can.”
“And I can... I can understand you?” his face turns as white as the Baron. Tyler knows all about parseltongue, the ability to talk to snakes. It’s hereditary, passed down to those who are descendants of Salazar Slytherin, found in people with dark magic.
All of this is enough to make Tyler want to run away screaming.
“You are more powerful than you know Joseph. I come with inssssstructions.”
“What’s that?” Tyler barely has enough oxygen to say. He thinks he’s stopped breathing.
“There are booksss in SSSSSSlughorn’s office that you must ssssstudy. Books locked away. Books that are dangeroussssss.”
“Why would I...” Tyler trails off. His tongue feels swollen, blocking his airways. He feels sick to his stomach. “Dark magic?”
“Yesssssss,” says the snake.
“But, why? Who sent you? Why me?”
The snake seems to grin. Tyler has never seen a snake smile before. “You’ll ssssseee.” And before Tyler can ask any more questions, the snake is gone, slithering back into the forest, leaving Tyler to weakly scamper up the hill and sneak back into the castle. He feels sick to his stomach, mostly because everything makes sense.
Mostly because he wants to do what he was told. He wants to find the books, wants to read them, wants to study them and learn.
Tyler knows he has an evil side, he’s always known. He’s just been pushing it away for so long. Maybe too long.
Instead of going to the infirmary, where he probably should have gone, Tyler crawls back into bed, and forces himself to go to sleep.
-
“Josh, I’m not lying to you. I spoke with a snake. Why would I lie about something like that?”
The two are walking towards the library after their Charms class, and Tyler almost exploded not being able to tell Josh about his weird night the whole class period.
“Tyler, all I’m saying is that it doesn’t sound feasible. How could you communicate with a snake?”
“It’s called parseltongue, and there have been very few people that have been able to speak it. One including Voldemort.”
Josh stops walking, Tyler slamming into his back. He rubs his sore nose as he moves to Josh’s side. “Josh?”
“Why have I never heard of that? People talk about the Dark Lord all the time. He’s probably the only one that can do it, and he’s been gone for a very long time. Tyler, we’re safe.”
“But what if we’re not? Josh, I can talk to snakes. Snakes. That can only mean I’m a descendant of Salazar Slytherin. It makes sense now why I was put in that house, and what the sorting hat said about me having potential to do something. He never said what that something was, he just trailed off, and I’ve never stopped thinking about that since. This could be my chance to understand why no one touches dark magic. It could give me a chance to understand it.”
Josh is angry now, and frustrated, given by his narrowed eyes and frown. “Tyler, it was late at night, and you probably dreamt the whole thing. Please, I’m begging you, do not get into stuff you won’t be able to get out of. Nobody touches that stuff because it’s dangerous. That’s the whole reason we have a class on it! Drop the whole thing, I’m not talking about this anymore.” And with a huff, Josh turns, heading down the staircase and away from the library and Tyler’s craziness.
Tyler stands there, amidst the rushing crowd of students, and watches Josh walk down the stairs. Could Josh be right? Could Tyler have dreamt the whole thing?
It makes sense, he decides. Finding himself outside in his pajamas and no coat, shivering, waiting for a snake in the woods. It definitely did sound made up.
With a sigh, Tyler turns in the opposite direction, planning on going back to do his homework in the Slytherin common room. He was dreaming, that was all. He couldn’t talk to snakes, that was insane, and not possible. There were only two people that could do that, well, one now, and Tyler was not that person. He couldn’t be that person.
With a shake of his head, Tyler decides he’s going to forget the whole thing, just like Josh said.
-
Weeks pass, and with the upcoming Christmas season, Tyler starts to believe that maybe Josh really had been right. It made a lot a sense after all; since that night, there hadn’t been any snakes, no weird raspy voices in his ear, and no weird urges to head to the Forbidden Forest.
Quidditch wasn’t going on due to the upcoming Christmas season, leaving Tyler with plenty of time to struggle with the heaps of work they had to do.
“You think they’d show some mercy with break being next week,” Josh mutters, dumping his books onto the library table. The two had just come from Defense Against the Dark Arts, where Professor Steward had shown absolutely no mercy for them, assigning at least two hours of homework, and a list of books they had to get from the library to even answer the questions in the first place.
Tyler laughs. “Josh, they never show mercy.”
A sigh. “I know.” he settles into his chair and raps his knuckles on the wood. “Would you get the books?”
“Sure, since I’m still up and everything,” Tyler replies sarcastically, grinning as Josh rolls his eyes. He heads to the back of the library where all the restricted books are, flashing a smile to the “keeper of all books,” and steps over the rope blocking the section from everything else. With a place full of magic, Tyler’s a little surprised the section doesn’t have a little more security, what with the advanced students being the only ones allowed to use them and everything.
Tyler trails his fingers across all the books until he finds the Dark Arts section and leans in to skim over the titles. When he finds what the pair needs, he starts piling them into his arms, when a particular books catches his eye. It’s a dark maroon colour with black accents, and he feels stuck, like the book is putting him into a trance, and forcing him to come closer.
With a shake of his head, Tyler manages to snap out of it and turns on his heel with his stomach churning. He’s going to ignore it. It’s probably nothing, but there’s still a small part of him wanting to come back and take it later. It’s just a stupid book.
“You got everything?” asks Josh as Tyler drops the stack on the table and slides one in front of him.
“Yeah. Should be all of them. You know, with the promise of more free time, I didn’t realize we were going to be swamped with ridiculous amounts of homework too.” Tyler takes a quill and starts to read, his stomach still clenching. He’s trying so hard to stop thinking about that stupid book.
“Jeez, I know. It’s like we’re studying for tests every day.” Josh shakes his head, his brow furrowed as he scans the book with a finger. “Okay, I think if I do the first half and you do the second, we should be able to finish this thing in time.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Tyler agrees. A few minutes of silence passes, and Tyler can't handle it. He drops his quill on the table. “What do your Christmas plans look like?”
“Tyler, I’ve told you this a hundred times.” Josh doesn’t look up from writing.
“I know, I know, but I forgot.”
“You didn’t forget, you’re just trying to procrastinate.”
“I don’t want to be away from you for that long.” Tyler frowns, sighing dramatically. “I mean, I get it, it’s Christmas, but how am I supposed to go three weeks without kissing you?”
“You do it for twelve over summer break.”
“Josh, quit being a dick, or I’ll turn your hair blue.”
Josh grins. “Okay, tonight I’ll meet you back in the dungeons during dinner again, and we can kiss until you like, throw up or something. But only if you do your work.”
“Fine,” Tyler says, picking up his quill, “but this better not be some elaborate ruse with no end result.”
“Shut up Tyler, you know I would never do that.” Josh is blushing, and Tyler only beams.
-
Break approaches fast, and soon enough Tyler finds him back at home. The entire car ride home Zack talks to their father about the Quidditch game, and it’s like Tyler isn’t even there.
“I was this close Dad, this close, and Tyler comes barreling out of the sky-”
“Tyler, did you purposely try to knock your brother off his broom?” Dad looks over at Tyler in the mirror. Tyler rolls his eyes.
“It’s how you play the game.”
“Anywho,” Zack continues, ignoring Tyler’s grumbling, “Slytherin got fouled, and we got to make a free shot, which put us in the lead...” Tyler ignores the two, his attention all on his backpack, which he’s been running his fingers over the whole time.
He knows he shouldn’t have, but Tyler went back for the book.
The library had been empty, torches casting eerie shadows that bounced across walls that late at night. Tyler had pulled the book out from the shelf and slipped it into his bag. He hadn’t opened it quite yet, honestly a little bit afraid of its power. After all, it had been calling for him.
“And Slytherin ended up winning, but I don’t think that game was fair at all.”
“Well you should have talked to the ref, she might of been able to sort some things out for you guys-”
“Slytherin won fair and square,” Tyler finally speaks up, annoyed with his brother’s whining. “I caught the snitch and about killed myself doing it.”
Zack huffs audibly as he crosses his arms firmly across his chest.
“Well, congratulations on winning the game Tyler, I’m proud of you, but you really shouldn't have tried to hurt your brother.”
“It's how the game works,” he continues his argument, catching Zack’s smirk. Tyler wants to rip his brother’s head off.
“Don't worry Dad, when we play Hufflepuff we'll beat ‘em.”
“We’ll beat them,” Tyler repeats mockingly under his breath, turning to look out the window at the passing landscape. He can't wait to get out of the stinkin’ car.
Later that night, Tyler is helping his mother peel potatoes for dinner. The sink is running, a pile of dirty dishes cleaning and drying themselves.
“How’s school going sweetheart?” She asks, leaning against the counter as she dries her hands with a dishrag. “You’ve seemed frazzled since you got here.”
“Yeah, it’s definitely a load,” Tyler nods without looking up from his potato. Brown strips of skin drop into the trash can. “I’m just irritated I guess.”
“With your brother?” Tyler’s mother glances towards the living room, where Zack and his father were still talking about sports. Tyler grunts. “I’m sorry your father isn’t paying attention to you Tyler, you know how he gets about Quidditch.”
“It’s not just that mom, it’s the fact that Zack followed in his footsteps and I got thrown into the rivalry house. Like, jeez, I won the game, and he doesn’t even care because it was Slytherin that won, not stupid Gryffindor.”
She sighs. “I know it’s stressful hun. How about I try and talk to him, tell him he needs to be more fair? I want you to have a good time while you’re here.”
“I’d appreciate that a lot actually,” Tyler responds, even though he feels a bit pathetic about it. “Thanks.”
“No problem. How’s that friend of yours? Josh, was it?”
“Yeah. He’s fine.”
“Why doesn’t he come over during the summers again?”
“His family travels. They’re both No-Majs, remember?”
“Oh yeah, I forgot he was a muggle-born.” She says that last part in a poorly done British accent and grins. “Would you help me set the table?”
Tyler watches his little sister walk across the living room with her thumb in her mouth and sit next to Zack, who shoves her away. He wishes he was in there instead of here. “Sure.”
-
“Lumos,” murmurs Tyler under his breath, and a small beam of light flashes out the tip of his wand. He stares at the maroon book laid out in front of him, his heart beating. “Time to get this over with.”
Tyler rips the book open, and the tension strained between him and that stupid thing drops, almost like it hadn’t been there in the first place. He flips through it, feeling a little let down at the fact that half the pages are blank and the other half are in a language he’s never seen before. Tyler frowns. He risked getting in trouble for this?
And then a small piece of paper flutters out of the back cover. Tyler moves his wand closer, casting heavy shadows on his bedroom walls. He glances over at Zack asleep across from him and looks back down only when he’s sure his brother is sound asleep.
Unlock me
He blinks. Unlock me? What does that mean? What is he supposed to-
Oh. Tyler knows. The books in Slughorn’s office. The ones the snake said were dangerous. But that hadn’t been real, that had been a dream, right? Right?
Suddenly feeling nervous again, Tyler shoves the book and the note back into his backpack, wanting to forget all about whatever was going on. It’s Christmas, he’s on break, he’s supposed to be enjoying himself.
A knock at the window distracts him, and with a confused expression, Tyler slides off his bed. The second he pulls open the window, a tawny owl comes flapping in. He grins.
“Hey there girl, who do you belong too?” he strokes her feathers, scoffing a little at the fact that she seems to be pushing into his touch and purring like a cat. A small folded up piece of paper falls out of her beak and into Tyler’s hand.
Hey Tyler, I hope you’re having a good break! I borrowed an owl because I don’t think Pickles would have made it far enough. Anyways, I love you, and I can’t wait to see you again.
Josh
Pickles was Josh’s cat he took to Hogwarts every year. She was black, but pretty sluggish and lazy. It was nice of Josh to send him a note, especially at a time like this.
“Thanks,” he tells the owl. “Hey, if you see Luna, would you mind telling her to come home? I haven’t seen her in a while.”
The owl nods, and Tyler slips her a sickle. Seconds later, she’s gone, flapping her wings into the nighttime sky. Tyler sighs and slips back down under his comforter, clenching Josh’s note in his hand. He wishes Josh was here for him to talk to.
For once, Tyler was actually looking forward to going back to school.
-
The term starts, and Tyler meets Josh early in the morning (as they often do) to make out. He’s craved Josh’s touch for all those weeks, and finally getting it makes him so frickin’ happy.
“Did you have a good holiday?” Josh asks, his face still buried in Tyler’s neck.
“It was fine, you?”
“Fine. I’m better now that you’re here.”
Tyler blushes, and goes back to kissing Josh.
He decides to keep the book hidden from Josh, and sneaks back out late one night to put it back in the library, the crushed up notes still in the pocket of his robes. Tyler decides that maybe looking into whatever this person is trying so hard to get him to do might be worth it if it stops all the weird feelings he’s been getting recently.
Josh’s nagging voice is in the back of Tyler’s head as he hangs back after Potions class ends. Professor Slughorn shouts over their exiting conversations that they have to read page 526 out of their book and answer the questions on making potion antidotes before he to is leaving the classroom and his office wide open. Tyler shakes his head in disbelief. This is too easy.
He tiptoes in, eyes glancing everywhere, before he notices a locked cabinet in the very back. Tyler pulls out his wand, and looks over his shoulder, just in case. The coast is clear.
Tyler gulps. “Alohomora.”
The gears slide and click, and he wastes absolutely no time pulling it open and piling the stack of books in his hands. They all look to be the same size, boring and large like any other text book, and Tyler’s a bit confused to why they’re considered dangerous, until one book stops him cold.
It’s green, with raised spikes and another lock over pages, and it keeps twitching, like it’s being strained against the padlock. He puts all the other books back and grabs for that one, barely managing to lock the cabinet again before the professor comes back into his office. Tyler shoves the book behind his back, trying his hardest to look normal, as the professor squints.
“How can I help you Mr. Joseph?”
“Oh uhm, I just came in here to ask you what the homework was again? I uh, really can’t remember anything to save my life.” he flashes a smile, hoping it’s enough to make him not look suspicious.
“Studies on potion antidotes. Page 526 in Advanced Potion Making. I appreciate you coming to ask me!” he chuckles a little, tugging on the lapels of his suit jacket. “This is my last year here you know, before retirement.”
“I did know that,” Tyler says. “You’ve had uh, quite a career here.”
“You have no clue boy, I’ll have to tell you about it sometime. Anywho, I’ll see you next class period.” He dismisses Tyler with a wave of his hand, dropping down into his seat. Tyler shoves the book under the folds of robe and darts out of the office with his head down and his skin burning. That had been close.
The book twitches against his chest, pulsing, almost like it’s...alive. He’s taking heavy breaths as he treks back to the Slytherin common room. His palms are sweaty, clenched in the fabric of his clothes to keep the book hidden, and his heart feels like it’s about to pop out of his chest. There’s so much adrenaline coursing through his veins, Tyler feels like he’s going to be sick. When had he gotten involved in stuff like this?
“Hey Tyler, you wanna play chess with us?” asks Dan as Tyler comes barreling through the common room.
“Uh, yeah, maybe in a minute,” he answers as he passes. Dan turns back towards the board with a finger on his lips.
Tyler shoves the book under his mattress and flops onto his back, his breathing heavy. He really hopes that Slughorn doesn’t decide to open that cabinet and look for this specific no named book. He wonders what’s so special about this book, what makes it so dangerous that a magical snake had to come out of the forest and talk to him, and he had to find a note in a different book to get the point across. Someone must have really wanted him to find it. He thinks about what Josh would say if he found out Tyler was doing the exact opposite of what he told him.
He lets his curiosity get the better of him. Tyler lets his bottom lip slide through his teeth as he pulls the book back out and unlocks the padlock. The book growls, and Tyler scoots back a little with wide eyes. It continues to twitch, twisting itself in his bedsheets before it settles down. Its pages flutter a little when Tyler reaches out to touch them.
The pages have a slight green tinge to them, and the minute his skin comes in contact... Tyler feels amazing. No, better than amazing, like he’s just taken a Felix Felicis potion. He takes a deep breath through his nose and pulls the book closer to him so he can start at the very beginning. The first page says Welcome, and although he knows he should be incredibly suspicious, Tyler doesn’t feel like that at all.
He feels powerful.
-
A week later, Tyler finds himself outside the Hufflepuff basement, staring at the complex set of barrels stacked in front of him. Josh had told him once where the common room was, and Tyler really didn’t think he’d be this desperate to see Josh. However, after last night, he’s just craving touch.
“Can I help you?” Tyler whips around to face a blonde girl with a large smile on her face, dressed in Hufflepuff yellow and black. He clears his throat, knowing he sticks out like a sore thumb over here. Why on Earth would a Slytherin be anywhere near the Hufflepuff basement?
“Uh, yeah, actually. Could you uhm, his name is Josh, Josh Dun-”
“Oh, I know him! Do you want me to get him for you?”
“If you would?”
“Sure!” she skips past Tyler, staring at him a little bit. “If you could just turn around-”
“Oh, uh, sure, sure,” he flips around, fiddling with his thumbs, until he hears a door swing open. “I’ll be right back, I promise.”
“I’ll be waiting,” he says, leaning against one of the barrels. He inspects his nails to pass time, and eventually pulls out his wand just to twirl it between his fingers.
Minutes later, there’s another squeak of door hinges, and Josh’s warm voice echoes throughout the basement. “Tyler, what’s up?”
Tyler wastes no time shoving Josh against the adjacent wall to suck a bruise into his neck. Josh moans, tangling his fingers in Tyler’s cloak, before he comes to his senses and pushes the younger boy off of him. “Jesus man, what’s going on?”
“Nothing, I just, I wanted to see you.” Tyler pushes again, this time biting Josh’s bottom lip, kissing him aggressively as he starts to unbutton Josh’s shirt and loosen his tie. “Wanted to touch you.”
“Tyler, no!” Josh’s voice is loud, louder than Tyler’s ever heard before. In surprise, Tyler backs off, and Josh scowls as he starts to fix his clothes. “Dude, what the hell? You can’t be so reckless and naive-” he ends abruptly, and blinks a couple of times. “Tyler, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, I’m just horny,” Tyler states, crossing his arms.
“This is not like you at all.”
“Sure it is. Nothing’s wrong.”
Josh narrows his eyes. “I don’t believe you. Look, I have homework I have to get done. I’ll talk to you later, okay? Hopefully you can behave yourself then.” Josh turns back towards the door with a scowl, not even bothering to hide the fact that you have to tap the barrels to get in. Tyler tells himself to remember that, just in case.
“Great,” he mutters, throwing his hands up in the air. What was wrong with him? He had never treated Josh like that, like some kind of object. Where had he gotten urges like that?
Tyler sighs, and shuffles back to the dungeons with his head down.
-
He’s not sure how it happens, but Tyler starts spending all his free time reading that book he stole out of Slughorn’s office. It never seems to end, pages appearing right when he thinks he comes to the end, and it pulls him back in.
He practices on insects, waving his wand to watch green sparks render a beetle dead as it twitches the second “Avada Kedavra” leaves his mouth, and Tyler knows he’s not supposed to say that, never supposed to say that, but he feels more alive than he ever has before. He tries out Crucio, watching another beetle twitch in pain, opening its pinchers, begging for mercy, and Imperio, forcing an ant to walk from one end of the table to the other.
Tyler reads about dark potions, reads about hexes and jinxes and all kinds of things he can do to people.
It’s definitely given him a new sense of purpose, maybe even some more confidence, because Quidditch practices roll back around, and he works his team harder than ever. They’re playing Ravenclaw, and Tyler wants to w-i-n win. He’s never really contemplated cheating before, but Tyler found some pretty interesting spells in that book that he wants to try out.
Even though he’s been more confident, Tyler’s felt angry too, and he’s been more aggressive with Josh. He’s not sure what it is, but every time Tyler sees him, he wants to touch him everywhere, wants to get him naked and see how far he can push Josh until he breaks. Tyler’s a little bit worried, but he’s stopped trying to push away unwanted emotions. He’s opening up to his bad side.
Tyler shows up to breakfast with heavy purple bags under his eyes. Dan stares at him.
“You look horrible.”
“Thanks Dan,” replies Tyler without looking up from his fried potatoes. There’s a bit of commotion as a familiar brown haired boy with a bright blue tie makes his way through the tables.
“Excuse me, excuse me, oh shut up, nobody cares about your pureblood crap, excuse me - oh! Tyler! There you are.” Mark squeezes in between Tyler and Dan and grins. “Dude, where have you been? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.” Tyler turns to face him, raising an eyebrow. “Ooooh, yikes. Dude, what happened to you?”
“A lot.”
“Josh sent me over here. He’s been a little nervous to be around you, and he won’t tell me why. Do you know why by chance?”
“Oi, Ravenclaw, why don’t you go back to your own table?” shouts a Slytherin four places down from where Mark is sitting. He rolls his eyes.
“Oi, Slytherin, how about you shut the hell up?” Mark rests a hand on Tyler’s shoulder, and immediately recoils like he touched a hot burner. “Jesus man, I think you might need to go to the infirmary.”
“I’m fine Mark.”
“Josh says you aren’t doing so well in your classes. Your parents have been sending letters, haven’t they?”
“Mark, go away. I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
“Tyler, quit being a dick. Obviously something is wrong, and you need to talk. If it isn’t going to be me, then at least have it be Josh, okay? He’s your best friend.” Mark pulls out from the table and turns on his heel without saying another word, leaving Tyler to stare at him longingly. He knows Mark is right, Tyler just doesn’t want to admit it. He wants Mark to come back and yell at him some more about how weird he’s been.
“Dude what the hell was that all about?” asks Dan, and instead of answering, Tyler pushes out from the table and leaves.
-
Josh finds Tyler in his dormitory mumbling under his breath a few days later. Tyler doesn’t even realize there’s another person in the room.
“Expelliarmus!” He shouts, and the book flies out of Tyler’s hands. Tyler looks up wildly into Josh’s mad eyes as the older boy tucks his wand away. “Tyler, what the hell are you doing?”
“How did you get in here?”
Josh scoffs. “Please, it takes a password to get in here and you tell me every time it changes. Tyler, I’m worried about you. You haven’t been taking care of yourself and everyone keeps saying you’re acting strange. You have your match against Ravenclaw tomorrow Ty, and you haven’t once mentioned-”
“There’s more to life than fuckin’ sports,” Tyler mutters, reaching back to grab his book. Josh is quick to pull his wand back out and point it at Tyler.
“You move and I’ll turn you into a frog or something. Tell me what the hell is going on.”
Tyler sighs. “Look. Remember when I told you I could... like, talk to snakes?”
Josh speaks in a warning tone. “Tyler-”
“No, you shut up. I tried to put it off J, I really did, but I felt like I was going insane. And then I was drawn towards this book in the library with a note that talked about the same things the snake did, and I might of... broke into Slughorn’s office to get it.”
“Tyler!”
“You don’t understand Josh. People don’t understand dark magic, that’s why they’re afraid of it, but that book, it’s full of things you wouldn’t dream of. There’s this spell, it’s really complex, but if I can I figure out how to do this, I can open up, I can experiment-”
Josh looks mortified. “Tyler, do you know how dangerous that is? Experimenting with dark magic... you’re gonna get yourself killed!”
“It’s supposed to be dangerous Josh, that’s the point. If I keep pushing past boundaries-”
“Do you even hear yourself right now? I’m taking that book from you and then you’re going to the infirmary.” Josh goes to grab the book off the floor when Tyler jumps in front of him.
“That’s my fucking book, you touch that and-”
“Everte Statum!” Tyler goes flying across the room, his body hitting the wall with a loud thud before his body crumples to the floor. He groans in pain. “I’m sorry Tyler, but I can’t let you continue with this. I love you too much to watch you destroy yourself.”
“Don’t you see? This is who I am. This is who I’ve always been. I’m finally letting my true self come out-”
“You’re letting yourself become a monster Tyler! You’re falling apart, making yourself sick, and I can’t watch you do this anymore. It’s been two months of this-” Josh had been flipping through the pages of the book, his eyes wide in fear. “Tyler, this isn’t even English, how have you been understanding this?”
“Just leave me alone.” Tyler picks himself up and wipes the blood off his mouth. His bottom lip split when Josh sent him flying. “I decide what I do what my life, not you. You’re pathetic anyways Josh. No wonder everyone hates Hufflepuffs.”
Josh’s face fills with hurt, and Tyler isn’t even phased. He drops the book on the ground. “Fine. If you don’t care about me, then I won’t care what you do. Have fun destroying your life, you jerk.”
Josh storms out of the room, all of the lights going out with a whoosh as he leaves.
-
Tyler changes into his green robes carefully, his hands shaking as he slides on his gloves and grips his broom. He feels awful, stomach churning, sweat beading on his forehead, his breaths heavy. They just gotta win this game.
“Alright team, les’go,” he mumbles, heading towards the field, when Dan stops him.
“Tyler, you aren’t looking so good. Are you sure you should play?”
“I’m fine man. We’re going to beat those Gryffindors-”
“We’re playing the Ravenclaws-”
“We’re going to beat those Ravenclaws, and overtake those stupid Gryffindors in the house championship. Okay? Okay, go team, les’go play.” Tyler pumps a fist forward and marches out onto the field. He’s got a few tricks up his sleeve, what with learning non-verbal spells and reading out of that book. They are going to win, even if that means breaking a few bones.
The herbology teacher, Professor Longbottom, was refereeing today, and the minute the whistle gets blown, Tyler is shooting up far into the air, trying to lose himself in the clouds. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, letting the wind swirl past him. It’s drizzling slightly, ice cold raindrops hitting his bare face and sinking into his hair. Tyler debates setting something on fire.
Gold flashes out of the corner of his eye, and he watches blue shoot after it. Tyler stares instead of flying after the Ravenclaw seeker through narrowed eyes, starts mumbling under his breath, and the seeker’s broom starts twitching and jerking uncontrollably. He gets the urge to kill this person, to send them falling to their death and watch their brains spill out of a cracked skull.
“What’s this folks? It appears Ravenclaw seeker Carla Brown has lost control of her broomstick!”
Tyler points his own broom downwards, planning on going after the snitch. He’s still muttering, but his fingers feel numb, he feels so cold... he can’t hold on anymore.
And with a short breath, Tyler lets go, his eyelids fluttering as he plummets two hundred feet to his death.