to the person who wrote the ending/ entire time travel concept for no time like the past, I wish for you to have the embarrassing experience of seeing someone waving to you, you waving back, and then realizing they’re waving to the person behind you at least once a week for the rest of your life.
Warnings: Swearing, harassment, assassination, neglectful parents (?), homophobia mention, fire
Summary: Roman and Virgil have a bonding moment, Dolos discovers something that shouldn't be as surprising as it is, and history gets a vibe check with hindsight.
-
Roman had only been awake for three minutes and he already knew it was too early. The stress had been getting to him, and on the long way to the palace, he had only gotten three hours of sleep in the past week. Usually, he’d sleep in and cuddle into Dolos, but that wasn’t really an option. Even when he’d do expeditions alone, Roman at least knew that his love was safe at home. This wasn’t exactly a good week for him as he knew the sun wasn’t even up yet.
He sighed dramatically and stood up to stretch. Deciding to spend his time wisely so everyone could leave the moment they woke up, he fed the horses, checked around the area for any trouble, and started the hunt for food. Now, they brought food, and Roman knew this, but he had been so bored lately now that his days had an extra six hours. So this meant, he’d roughly remember everything Patton has said about scavenging and try to mimic everything Virgil has done regarding hunting. It didn’t go to plan as he wished but at least he hasn’t gotten severely injured yet, as he was still recovering from that one asshole.
Unfortunately, his brain couldn’t help but drift to Dolos. What if they were all too late? What if he gets hurt in a way he never recovers? Is this how Dolos feels whenever Roman travels out of town? He travels a l o t and he had almost always had to get patched up by the end of it. The guilt started growing as he realized that he and his boyfriend had switched roles. A little ‘I told you so’ at the end of this entire fiasco was definitely in order and Roman would accept it gracefully. He breathed in to keep himself from freaking out. He and Dolos would both get out of this alive, and it’ll be okay. But why couldn’t he bring himself to believe it?
“What the fuck are you doing up so fucking early?”
“Shut up, Virgil, you’re going to wake up Patton and you know he’s a light sleeper,” Roman said huffing slightly at the end of his sentence. Even though he had been up for hours, it was still way too early for any actual communication. “Besides, I know you like sleeping in so what woke you?”
Virgil gave a small grin and shrugged, extending his arms to invite a hug. “I can sense anxiety from 20 feet away so I thought I’d comfort you.”
“Sounds fake but okay.” Roman scoffed, accepting the hug with a small laugh. “Though it is mighty suspicious that I have woken up before you, and you have shown on multiple accounts to not sleep like,,, at all.”
Virgil shoved Roman out of the hug and punched his shoulder. A little unnecessary, but that was what basically defined their friendship at that point. Some melodramatic bickering and practically acting like they hate each other even if they would kill for one another. Though, if this were to be brought up, the two would immediately argue this, as if it was something the world wasn’t allowed to know. Logan and Patton found it ridiculous but Remus found it hilarious that they can act so stupid. Eventually, the others woke up to the two lightly bantering. The sun was up at that point and it was decided they should PROBABLY leave to finish their plan.
“Guuuysss, our horses will probably kick us if we don’t get going!” Patton called.
Roman shook his head with a tired but genuine laugh; hopefully, that laugh would be shared with Dolos soon. He ran back to the campsite, ready to leave as soon as he could.
-
After Dolos was told the plan he was half-convinced it would work.
I mean if you heard any plans about overthrowing your current government with 30 or so people, you’d be skeptical too, right? You wouldn’t just believe everything off the bat. Remy and Magenta shared a house and gave Dolos the guest bed. They weren’t together nor would they ever which was totally fine and Dolos didn’t even ask or hint at something like that when Magenta told him. He was assuming that one of them or both were in separate relationships or so.
It was late at night or early morning and he still hadn’t slept. He was under the blankets, all warm and cozy, but actually getting rest? Who did you take him for? He hardly ever slept when Roman was on his trips, but actually having an adventure for himself? That shit is scary. Dolos sighed and turned to his hide to cradle a pillow in his arms. He hugged it close to his chest, forcing his eyes closed as he imagined that he was safe and sound at home with Roman and his plants. He was so sleep deprived he could almost feel his loved one’s arms around his waist.
Unfortunately, it only lasted about twenty minutes before the sun came up, forcing Dolos to get up as the light hit his pillow and face immediately. He frowned and rubbed his eyes. This wasn’t exactly what he had in mind as a vacation at any rate. First of all, he would’ve preferred to have his boyfriend.
While he walked out to the commons of the household he noticed the lack of everyone else. Did they get curtains for every room in the house but his? Classic. He was tired and more than 75% convinced that being cursed to turn half-snake made him cold-blooded as well.
Dolos wrapped his arms around himself, giving himself a small hug and warmth as he curled up in the recliner. Roman would probably tease him on how he can fit so perfectly wrapped in a ball on a chair. This caused him to accidentally drop one of his legs which he didn’t have the reaction time to pull up again. His foot hit the floor and Dolos hissed in pain, attempting not to wake anyone up.
“Well, this is going perfectly.” He muttered to himself angrily, slowly falling off of the chair and slumping to the ground. “Just absolutely splendid. No setbacks at all.”
“Saying synonyms to what you want to believe is true probably isn’t going to work, babe.” Dolos turned around and saw Remy, coffee and all. It’s like he couldn’t be seen without caffeine. He let an exaggerated sigh after taking in the fake that another person was awake, especially that person being Remy. He rolled his eyes in response. “Gurl, calm down, this is my house after all. Strange how I come here sometimes.”
He didn’t bother to respond verbally and slid slowly off of the chair onto the ground so Dolos wouldn’t have to look at his face. It was a bit childish but he was too sleep-deprived to care about that much. He just wanted to hug his boyfriend and let him know that he was alright. Hopefully, he wasn’t doing anything stupid… Ugh, the sooner he helped this ragtag team overthrow the king, the earlier he could get a new home with Roman. If it took actually cooperating with people, maybe the snake would consider it. He let out another sigh and stood up.
“So, what can I do to help your side of the rebellion?”
“About fucking time you gave some enthusiasm.”
-
Thomas tucked his pocket watch back into his jacket for about the fifth time before the queen came in. He was incredibly nervous because he had to actually talk to his father and without Joan around, he didn’t want to mess up and put anyone in jeopardy. Unfortunately for him, his mother had the pleasure of telling him that his father was too busy. Because of course, why would anyone want time with their son? He wasn’t salty at all thanks for asking.
With a sigh, Thomas decided that he was definitely sneaking out again to see Remy and hear about the plans. The more his father ignored him, the more he wanted to rebel. So, once night fell, he put on his cloak and peasant clothing to walk into the streets. It was nightfall at this point and he blended into the point he felt like he let out a breath he seemed to have held for an entire day. Even with being a prince, he never really thinks of himself as one. Yes, he’s grateful for his privilege but he tried not to expect everyone to treat him with that privilege.
It was a hazy afternoon and he opened the door, closing it behind him swiftly. The door closed louder than he thought it would and he heard a loud thud along with a long string of swears. It wasn’t a voice he recognized so he decided to assume it was that Deceit fellow. Even so, Thomas placed his hand on the hilt of his dagger and slowly walked to the living room to see a person on the floor, clutching their feet.
“Are you okay?”
“Perfectly peachy, this definitely isn’t the second time this happened to me today.” Ah, this person can possibly be a threat then. Too clumsy to be an actual criminal. “So are you that prince dude the coffee addicted bitch won’t stop talking about?”
Thomas shook his head. “First of all, no swearing. Second of all, yes, I think?”
“Of course. At least I know that you’re sort of trustworthy.” The man said, standing up and avoiding wincing. Thomas came to the realization that this was supposedly the masterful witch that could destroy the king? Hmmm, okayyy. “Anyways, dipstick, I heard the plan. It might suck ass but I think with a couple of knuckleheads like you, y’all have a chance.”
Without even digesting the sentence, one thing came to the prince’s mind. “Y’all? I have no idea what you’re saying to me.”
Deceit laughed and punched his shoulder, causing Thomas to grab it and yelp in alarm. He was just met with another snicker, which turned grim. “Look, sorry for punching your fragile noodle arms, but you need a better plan with more or fewer people. At this stage of planning, Y’ALL won’t be able to overthrow the king. I know Remy doesn’t want me to change the outline and I respect that, but sometimes force is a dumb fucking thing to do. Since you’re dating him or whatever, and probably smarter let’s be real, you need to tell him! We aren’t going to be able to go at night with clanky weapons and shit like that! You need a more cohesive plan!”
“Well, shit,” Thomas breathed.
“Swearing,” Deceit tutted with a smirk.
Thomas punched him, similar to how he was hit just earlier. Deceit fell from his force, accidentally setting his hair on fire. Both of them stared at each other for a moment. Neither of them noticed Remy had showed up until he poured his coffee on top of the fire. The two standing helped him stand up, as he was too shocked to react. He looked at his hands, managing to make a flame grow above his finger. Deceit blew it out and made eye contact with Remy.
“I think I’m actually a fucking witch then.” He looked up, imagining how Roman would react to this. “Well, that makes a lot more sense than being a pyromaniac as a child… Huh…”
-
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK! Roman stared at his broken sword. He was supposed to be the knight in shining armor for his love, not breaking the one thing he knew how to use properly. Hell, he couldn’t hold a bow right. This was his favorite sword too. He dropped his head on the horse's neck and sighed. Roman thought himself as an idiot at this moment.
“Yep, that sword looks done for.” Patton declared, patting Roman’s back in sympathy.
“Thanks, Patton,” He replied with a sigh.
“We could always gain possession of another sword. One in better shape.” Logan stated, picking up the pieces and stuffing them into his backpack. They couldn’t leave any traces of themselves behind, even if a broken blade was incredibly useless at the moment. “Furthermore, we have reached our destination. Erytol is two hours and three minutes away if we keep at this current pace without distraction.”
Virgil stretched his back and it cracked loudly. “Since when have we kept from being distracted?” He asked with a chuckle. “Besides, we’re going to have to wait until dark before we should even bother walking in. Even Patton got banned from this city, right?”
Patton nodded while Remus laughed at him. “I think I mentioned something about gay people? Weird because I don’t even have romantic attraction.”
The group sighed at the sound of homophobia. You know the city is bad when even Patton managed to get banned from it. Continuing on, they eventually decided to stop their conversation and travel as promptly as they could. They hid in their average cloaks and prepared for their least favorite city. Erytol. This place was annoying because it had the castle, which meant that more guards and stuff were stationed there. Yet, it was filled with lots of plans to overthrow the king, though a lot of them were never attempted or fell flat. This time it would be better. Because the gays were angry and wanted to fight.
And they were going to beat the shit out of their opponents.
-
When Dolos was a child, around seven years old, he wasn’t allowed outside. He was known as the destructive kid that would be a bad influence on yours. Dolos had once set fire to an entire house and his parents quickly moved away from that town. He wasn’t the son his father or mother could be proud of so he was taken out of the public eye. At least, that’s what he thought for the longest time.
Dolos had grown to despise his parents for being forced to hide. Sure, their intentions seemed good! Their child wouldn’t stop setting fires and at the time he was twelve, this was pushed aside as a wild boy with pyromania. So, he was feared. He had no friends or anything. Eventually, Dolos chilled out and learned to handle things on his own. He bandaged his own wounds and fought his own battles. When he WAS let out, his parents made him wear a hood over his head so the neighbors wouldn’t recognize him. But one day, he met someone that could be considered a friend. Remus.
He was a boy just a year older than himself. An unruly personality. Perhaps one comparable to a wild pyromaniac?
So, a friend! A friend that was a twin that could also be a friend! But, Dolos wasn’t supposed to be outside or talk to others. But… he finally had friends… Doesn’t that mean something? His parents should at least respect that, right? They didn’t. He was told to remain quiet and go home immediately. As Dolos was walking away in shame, he turned and saw confusion and hurt in Remus’s eyes. He softened and fought against his want to cry. If he wasn’t allowed to be friends, he would just have to break the rules.
Roman and Remus were kind. They didn’t ask questions when Dolos knocked on their window at one AM. Perhaps they were too tired or suspected something about his family life. Dolos had run away at age fourteen. He lived with Remus and Roman at their orphanage. It was a refuge for him. He was able to talk to other children and have friends! But not all were ups. The food was horrible and most of the kids were even worse. Dolos would go into his shared bedroom with bruises he would treat himself after treating Remus. Roman was the only one who evaded bullying, by appearing so confident, no one dared to mess with him.
No matter how strong the three got, it was agreed to run away after a year. They ended up in Klanbou, the self-declared “most dangerous city in the continent!” by its citizens. That’s when the three worked together smuggling pixie dust through cities, Remus and Dolos also taking up part-time assassins. They all took up code names to remain secret and eventually met a young man named Virgil under extremely unlucky circumstances. Dolos never mentioned his pyromania to anyone and always kept some form of water on him at all times. Not to keep him hydrated, but to hope it would all stop. Eventually, at least. He never considered himself to be a witch, he didn’t realize the qualifications of magic at the time.
At least, until he had turned 22, and encountered a drunk wizard when he was in the middle of working out his plan for a random politician. The wizard was attempting to flirt with Dolos and as he told him kindly to “Fuck off” and to leave him alone… The wizard got upset. And slapped him.
Dolos stood up to yell at the wizard only to find the left of his face in excruciating pain. He had fallen to the floor, feeling cold hard scales sprouting off his face. The wizard gave him one last kick before leaving the bar. Roman ran after him, leaving Dolos alone. And as he was, he heard the earl of the town ban him publicly. In front of almost the whole contents of Klanbou, the city of criminals. People yelled and called him a witch.
As he was about to be chased out, his eyes darken. “I’ll give you witch,” he hissed, touching the building. The pyromaniac tendencies must’ve kicked in because Dolos created fire without knowing how, and walked out with Roman helping to carry Dolos’s weight. If Klanbou wouldn’t hold them, they might as well give them a legitimate reason not to. And burning the bar seemed appropriate at the time. Though, this meant the two would need somewhere new to live, and a cottage in the woods sounded pretty nice.
Warnings: Guillotines, death mentions, assassination, weapons, implied violence, implied blackmailing, anarchy, swearing, Tell me if I need to add anything!
Summary: Dolos doesn’t die, Roman and others™ plan to rescue him and the son of the king isn’t a bitch!
Work Count: 2.2k
Author’s Note: This is Chapter Two and I don’t know how links work :,) so yeah... Enjoy the chapter!
“So, I’m… not getting burned for being a witch?” Dolos asked. At this point, he was sitting in a holding cell underneath the castle. Who knew that being arrested would bring you right where Roman wanted to go. Maybe they could get arrested together next time. The guard just outside his cell seemed pretty chill. Like, completely chill. “You know I’m wanted in like… 20 towns, right? Even in Klanbou! It’s almost impossible to be banned there!”
The guard chucked, almost amused that a person as short as Dolos could be a criminal. “You’re not selling yourself very well. The name’s Remy, babe.”
Dolos scoffed. He’s been talking to Remy for about thirty seconds and they’re already sharing names? SOMEONE knows nothing about working against the king. He squinted his eyes. “Call me Deceit.”
“Oh, you little shit. Babe, I’ve shared my name and I only get to call you Deceit? That is cold, gurl. But, I’ll accept it because I’ve heard that you’re able to do wonderful things and that you’re in the rebellion. It’s a bit annoying to admit that I’d need your help. If not have fun joining the rest of the witches.” Remy was saying all of this while unlocking the cell and pulling Dolos up. “Or you could help me out.”
“Do I have a choice?” He asked, despite the fact that both of them were currently walking together through a back corridor in between the walls. It was sort of therapeutic to Dolos to have useless bickering, as it reminded him of Roman. But he had to remind himself that he had no idea who Remy was and therefore couldn’t trust them. He knew this by now. Eventually, the two reached a door leading outside. But before leaving, Remy took off their cloak. “Woah there, I’m already taken.”
Remy scoffed. “Me too, bitch. I’m trying to disguise your curse.” With that, they threw the cloak on top of Dolos and continued walking.
Typical. Dolos pulled the hood over his head and ran to catch up. Yay, he got his life saved at the expense of dealing with one of the most annoying people on the planet. Yes, Remy was now in front of Remus and Roman. Is that a shock? Or is it simply logic because they’ve all known each other since they were 16? Who’s to say? Remy was fucking annoying but a lovely person, much like everything else he knew.
“So do you even have a plan?” Dolos asked, ducking around the place casually. He readjusted his hood to better hide his face. He was trying his best to remain calm and keep his head low. “This isn’t exactly a very permanent solution.”
Remy just laughed and ignored him. They continued to walk down the marketplace while Dolos was still trying to keep his head down. This, apparently, was too slow for this man and he grabbed Dolos’s hand and pulled him. Why was he even doing this? I mean, he was probably going to be murdered either way. Stabbing seemed much more appealing than being burned at this point though, so he let himself be led around without so much as looking up.
Eventually, they reached what Dolos assumed to be a house. It was nice and instantly a warmer contrast to outside. “Okay, where are we?”
Remy gave a smile and pushed down the hood of Dolos’s cloak. “Welcome to my side of the rebellion. Don’t worry, we haven’t assassinated anyone yet.”
-
“How the fuck did you let this happen? My poor baby is going to be so mad that people think he’s a witch again.” Patton huffed, it was hard to take any of their death sentences seriously when they all had about ten each. They were currently in Logan’s house because he was the only one with an actual job that didn’t include pixie dust trafficking. Roman had to make yet another disguise just to get into it. Too many people knew him here, and if his parents spotted him he would be dead.
“Oooh! Is he going to be guillotined like I almost did?”
“No, Remus. They only did that in Egomond, we’re technically in Matlock at the current time.” Logan rolled his eyes and readjusted his glasses. It was eight in the morning and Roman had traveled all night to get there. Virgil was all the way in Klanbou and a letter would not be able to reach him in time. “We now have to find a way to track him without getting any of us killed.”
“Could it be possible that we could ask a fae?”
“It’s never okay to ask a fae, Patton! They may flirt but they aren’t actually interested.” Roman informed. He had almost given his name to one as a child but managed to be lucky enough to be hit by a stick in the face by Virgil before he could actually say it. The stick being thrown was indeed supposed to hit the fae, but it worked well enough. Now there was a cool looking scar on his chin that he pretends was from the fae themself. “We all know what happened to me.”
Patton whined but nodded, giving no more commentary. While devising a plan, they all agreed that Dolos was most definitely in Yento, the location of the main kingdom. Witches were all generally taken there because the king apparently enjoyed seeing his worst enemies suffer. He was a horrible king and the bandits gave their apologies to the family who seemed tolerable at most. After about two hours, they decided it was time to go to Yento and their beautiful snake-man back.
“I agree and all. But…” Remus gave a little smile. “Are you sure that sneaking into the castle WON’T include hitting people with my morning star?”
“It’s supposed to be a stealth mission, idiot.” Roman sighed. “I just want to get my love back, okay? This requires staying in cities without being killed or standing out. Do you guys understand that?”
Patton and Remus both rolled their eyes at the idea of romance, them being too aromantic for this sort of bullshit that seemed to entrance everyone else. It didn’t matter whether or not that Remus and Logan were QPR’s, Roman’s love for Dolos was different from that. Not that you can actually say that more inherent romance made that big of a difference, but Remus sure seemed to make fun of their brother any chance they could get so they would always say that they were.
Eventually, Patton got a friend of his to take care of the house and shop while Logan got their horses from the stable boy down the road so they’d be ready to go on a quest to save Dolos from getting burned at the stake. Just a normal Wednesday, really. Except, it wasn’t usually the royal guard taking them from their ACTUAL homes so maybe it was a little different after all.
“I have retrieved our horses from the stable. We should be ready to depart within the hour.” Logan called opening the backdoor and yelling into it, rather than walking in. Roman put on his backpack and side glanced at a mirror across the room. He looked miserable and tired. It was to be expected, but he wanted to look his best so his thoughts would stay at their best.
Roman impatiently sighed and felt his head bang across the table after he stopped supporting it with his hand.
-
“Aww, how cute.” Dolos stood in front of three other people he didn’t know and frowned when he was pushed towards them by Remy. “I already have a delinquent gang, sorry. Thanks for saving me from being burned at the stake though.”
“You know the agreement, Deceit. I saved your life, time to save everyone else’s babe. And you know we’re stronger than you.” Remy stole coffee off of one of his friends. Dolos let out a groan. It was true but still very irritating to hear. “Now, we came up with an idea to overthrow the king-”
“Not yet,” One interrupted. They stepped forward and reached out their hand to Dolos, and as they took it, they pulled down on the arm and hit the hood off of his head. “Oooh, I like the scales. I’m assuming this is why everyone thinks you’re a witch. I happen to ACTUALLY be one and I work on illusions and shit. I’m the person who can help you not get stabbed so thank me later, bitch.”
“Pleasure to meet you, my savior.” Dolos rolled his eyes. He wanted to see Roman again, not help this random group of anarchists. But he would take what he could get, even if it was a bunch of random teenagers he just met. “Well, what should I call you all.”
“Well, they’re Toby, that’s Magenta, and I’m Valerie.” The woman stood up from the couch and smiled. She seemed determined that Dolos would actually enjoy their presence, which was doubtful but might as well agree. “Of course, we’re going to need to know your name? Calling yourself ‘Deceit’ might not be the BEST idea in the world.”
Dolos scoffed but didn’t say anything. For about two seconds… “I have a proposition for you… I help out your little, gang here, and you help me find someone.”
Remy looked at his friends and shrugged, “No time like the present?”
-
The servant walked up to the doors to the prince’s quarters and sighed before knocking on the door. The sun had already set and they were working way overtime to get this done. They heard a small ‘come in’ before making their way into the room. The prince was laying on his stomach on the ground, looking bored as hell. The servant laughed, closing the door. “Sire, I’m not sure your father would approve of you looking less than perfect.”
“He wouldn’t like me breathing either but he doesn’t have the right to complain about that now would he?” The prince replied snarkily, without changing his position.
“As much as I find this amusing my prince, you really must get up. You’ve set up a meeting for your plans. You wouldn’t want that to go to waste now, would you? I’m sure Toby would not appreciate your absence. Or… Remy would miss you as well.”
The prince let out a loud sigh and crumpled into a ball on the floor, his cape effectively being used as a blanket. The servant rolled their eyes and crouched down to the royal’s level. They weren’t really getting paid to deal with such a crybaby but they had to care about their friend. What a piece of work, honestly.
“Joannnnnnn, don’t bring my boyfriend into this. Or his friend either. It is very rude of you and I can have you executed for this!”
“True, but you won’t even let me breathe anywhere towards danger because you care too much. I don’t think you’d want to even consider the possibility of me getting hurt, would you, Thomas?” Joan replied attempting to pull the prince up from the ground and only half succeeded. Still, it was enough to see tear stains on his face, Joan’s grip slipped slightly. “Goddamnit, what did that sorry excuse of a father do this time?”
Thomas let out a shrug and slumped into his friend’s arms. New tears threatened to fall down his face as the situation was brought up. It was clear he didn’t want to talk about it so Joan took Thomas’s hand and guided him to a standing position, thinking of a quick subject change that was also quite important to talk about. The rebellion.
“News from Remy by the way, that fucker who was put in prison for being a witch has now negotiated with the rebellion.”
“Oh, what was his name? Remy didn’t know it and every wanted poster from each town seems to have a different name… Or is that something mysterious we don’t actually know about him because he’s actually good at this stuff, unlike us. But we’re trying our best! Being on the inside helps a lot too! I’m pretty surprised the king let me hire Remy in the first place, seeing as he is very against liking the same gender… Which is really closed-minded of him.” Thomas rambled on, as well as half venting, about basically everything that had come through his head. This might’ve been boring or annoying to some, but Joan knew that this was a defensive mechanism that was pulled out whenever Thomas felt the need to avoid something he didn’t want to think about. And while they usually stopped him from doing this, Thomas clearly needed a distraction.
After about twenty minutes of Thomas talking about random foods he liked and basically every pun he could think of that included whatever food he was mentioning at that current moment, Joan stopped him. “Hey buddy, that’s nice and all but I originally came here to tell you something.”
“Oh,” Thomas stopped his ranting. He felt slightly embarrassed that they let him rant for so long about practically nothing. “And why is that?”
No Time Like The Present is kicking my ass ;-; It's decided it wants to be the longest chapter I've ever written for this fic (shocking seeing as the jegulus epilogue was 30k). But because it's taking five-ever I wanted to give a little something to tide us over!! Still no idea when it will be up, I'm maybe around halfway through it and it's already 20k. So. Here she is :) under the break in case you don't want a surprise spoiler-ish.
Harry is leaning against the headboard of their bed, a stack of parchment propped on his legs, Muggle pen in between his teeth, glasses askew, bare chest on display for some Merlin-forsaken reason (the reason is Draco and how utterly insatiable Harry is). He looks unbelievable in the low light of the Lumos creeping around the room in slow, indolent flutters. His skin is that same stunning shade it always is after a summer spent in the sun. Ellie and Alya run him ragged when they’re free of Hogwarts. He keeps up with them in a way no one else can—Draco loves him for it. The girls—and that’s what they are, girls—adore going for a fly and Harry adores flying almost as much as he adores them.
It does have the unintended—or intended, who knows—consequence of Harry looking like a God misplaced from Olympus. Draco ends up taking Harry on his back most nights in the summer, unable to look away from his perfect face and ravishing body. The summer is also when Harry manages to take Draco. Something about the sun agreeing with Draco’s complexion—he’s long since stopped questioning Harry’s madness.
Stop it, he scolds himself as his cheeks heat and his cock stirs in interest with that train of thought. “Love,” Draco calls him.
Harry glances up, eyes distracted and tongue visible where he’s got it pressed up along the underside of the pen. “Wha?” He tries before grabbing the thing from his mouth and asking again, “What?”
“You know what year it is, don’t you?”
He scrunches his face, the left side always scrunching just a bit more than the right. “Of course,” He replies tetchily.
“Harry,” Draco sighs and sets aside his own lesson plans he’d been reviewing. “Our…” It pains him, the way he’s going to say this. Because it’s not true anymore. It’s not. “Our friends are coming to school this year.”
