Luck of Nines

83

Theo hadn't said much about Harry's decision to force him to sleep the next morning, although he glared without any real anger occasionally over at Harry throughout the day and commented pointedly about his clothes being wrinkled from sleeping in them- nevermind he'd fixed it within minutes using a simple spell.

"It's been a decade, why do they keep mentioning my trial?" Harry finally asked, later in the day after deciding it was safe enough to bring up whatever questions had lingered from the trip to the Alley.

      Theo glanced up from his desk, where he was eating lunch as he completed several documents to his satisfaction sending them off into the fireplace piece by piece in sealed envelopes after a final inspection. Theo made sure Harry could see the purposefully suspicious look that was directed toward them before he signed another paper with a final flourish and took the melted wax that had been prepared and drizzled it onto the envelope before he started to speak, his hands never hesitating in the clearly practiced motion.  Harry remained quiet, watching this from where he sat leaning against the wall.

       Finally, giving up on the quiet game to further drive home his annoyance at having had to get some sleep, Theo spoke, "It's the only thing they have against me. They don't know that you're around to threaten even if they might suspect I know more about your escape and whereabouts than I'm letting on, and they don't particularly have anyone else to use as leverage either. Magically and mentally, my skills are exceptional even if I wouldn't be able to hold out for long in a true. However, since your trial set most of this in motion and has continued to be the main focus behind my actions, they are all fairly confident about it still being an emotional point for me, which is what they've always used when recruiting people."

Harry tilted his head, "An emotional point?"

"Well yes, you know being told your lesser or getting cheated out of what you deserve, bullying that might have happened, money, power, family, love, being above morally or something others, stuff like that."

"No, my trial; it's an emotional point? Flitwick said something about that too."

Theo froze, he may have been talking, but his attention had always been at least partially on the work that he had before him. He shifted slightly in the chair, readjusting his posture and flipping through some of the pages below it despite not having finished the one he was currently working on.

"Well... I wasn't just going to leave you there... it's worse even than what everybody talks about," he seemed to be searching for an excuse, "and we're a pack right? We've got to stick together. I just, I'm sorry I left you there alone for so long."

      Harry stretched out, moving closer to the fireplace as he did so and letting the warmth of the flames which danced a little dangerously close to him now serve as a reminder, it had gotten easier to move past his time there, he was hungry and full, but it still lingered at times like this, "It didn't really feel like I was alone all the time," he mused, mostly to lessen the pained look that lingered on Theo's expression, "You might not have been there physically, but sometimes it felt like your presence as there, and even in my less sane moments, it was your voice that was holding me back for totally losing control, even when my mind held no positive memories, even when I didn't remember who you were, it was still like you were there... you shouldn't feel sorry that it took you so long, I'm glad you got me out of there and I'm glad that I got to meet you because it was you who kept me sane while there."

Theo's hands had frozen and finally he took a deep, shuttering breath. "I used to watch you." He finally said.

Harry tilted his head in thought.