Pairing: Justin and Nick
Words: pagoda; harmonise; slicken; magic


Nick's more than a lot in love with Justin.  It only makes it that
much more painful when Justin's designated representative comes to
tell him that Justin doesn't want to have anything to do with him
anymore.

"And..." the Slytherin says, studying his perfect nails, "if you
come anywhere near him, you'll be hexed within an inch of your
life.  Understand?"

"Sure, Bass," Nick says, hugging his arms to himself.  "I got it."

~~~

Justin screams, "You can't do this!  It's not fair!  I'm allowed to
choose my own life!"

He throws jinxes with each sentence, keeping his 'friends' dancing. 
"I'm going to fry you so crispy, you're parents won't even
recognise you!"

And he would, too, if his head of house hadn't pulled him out of
the room.

Justin stares at nothing, sitting in the dungeon and waiting.

Professor Richardson offers Justin a cup of tea.  "Would you like
to tell me why you incapacitated half of your own house today?  Or
would you prefer to simply move on to your punishment?"  His tone
is absolutely level, as though both possibilities are the same to
him.

"They're keeping me from Nick," Justin says, just as blandly.  The
facts are for sharing, the emotion is not.

"Nick?"

"Carter.  Hufflepuff chaser."

"Ah.  And their objection to him is?"

"He's a Hufflepuff, and not a pureblood."

"So the usual nonsense then.  And they're stopping you from seeing
him how?"

"They locked me in the dormitory and warned Nick off."

"They locked you in the dormitory," Richardson repeats flatly. 
"Two days detention for getting caught hexing your housemates and
three for failing to escape such a pathetic trap.  Three feet on
various means you could have used to escape."

"With or without my wand and knife?" Justin asks.  He hands over
the blade without being told, though it will mean more detention. 
"They'd taken both."

"With the means you had on hand at the time."  Richardson looks at
the knife and sighs.  "And four days for being stupid enough to
admit to a teacher that you're armed.  Really.  Why someone like
you was sorted into Slytherin, I'll never know."

"Nor shall I.  Perhaps because you're fucking my father."

Richardson stands.  "Slytherin does not mean stupid or evil. 
*Four* feet on the positive qualities of our house.  And the hat
makes its own decisions."

"Mmhmm.  Yes, sir.  Seven days and seven feet.  Who will I be
serving with?"  Justin spends a lot of time in detention.  The
teachers like to spread his punishment around.

"I neither know nor care.  Report to the caretaker.  I'm sure he
has all manner of disagreeable tasks for recalcitrant pupils."

"Yes, sir."  Justin rises and leaves, seeking out the Keeper of
Grounds and Keys.  Starting the punishment tonight means he'll be
free for Quidditch tryouts in a week.

Kevin sits and jots out a note for the head of Hufflepuff.  Howard
Dorough is a level-headed and practical individual, befitting his
house.  Kevin does not claim to know what's best for a Hufflepuff,
but he can see that this situation is not in any way optimal.

~~~~

Mucking stables is in no way disagreeable.  Justin thinks that
teachers would do better to learn *what* their pupils fear, and use
that fear to punish him.  But he doesn't say it out loud, just
shovels shit over his shoulder, and is thankful his hair is
slickened back.

Nick walks into the stables.  His head-of-house had asked him to
deliver a note to the hostler.  Nick doesn't know why it has to be
hand-delivered, when an owl would be easier, but he trusts
Professor Dorough.

Which makes it such a shock when he nearly walks right into Justin. 
"I-- I'm sorry," he stammers.  "I didn't know you'd be here.  I'll
just get out of your way, okay?"

"Nicky!"  Justin smiles.  "Oh, Nicky.  Bass lied to you, I swear. 
They locked me in the fucking room, and came and lied to you.  I'll
never, ever, ever want to get rid of you."  Justin smiles hugely,
but doesn't touch Nick.  That's not what this is.  It's that Nick
is the only person in the whole fucking world who would mourn if
Justin died.  And Nick makes it safe for Justin to smile.

"Yeah?" Nick asks cautiously, hope beginning to rise.  "Really?" 
Newfound caution makes him stop, though.  "If that's true, why
didn't you say anything to me?  To tell me it wasn't true?"

"I... I just did.  Right?" Justin's confused.  "I got locked up,
and I got out and jinxed them all, and talked to Professor
Richardson, and came here to be punished, and here you are."

"Oh!  Oh.  You got locked up?  By who?  Why?"

"By my 'friends'.  They don't want me to talk to you and stuff.  I
shouldn't be so mugglish, y'know."

"Having relationships is Muggle-ish?"

"Caring about a non-pureblood is, apparently."

"That's stupid."

"Yep."

"So, um.  Are we going to keep doing stuff together?"

"I'd like to, yes.  But you need to know about them.  They're mean. 
They might hurt you, and I don't want you getting hurt."

"I don't want you getting hurt either," Nick says with simple
honesty.  "Are they gonna do more stuff to you if you keep seeing
me?  More than just locking you up?"

"Probably, but nothing more than I can handle.  I've got my wand,
now."

"You didn't before?"

"Nah, they took it.  I was stupid.  I didn't expect them to disarm
me."

"Oh."  Nick worries his lip with his teeth.  "I thought that's what
Slytherin was like -- lots of competitivity and always having to
watch out for yourself and stuff."

"It is.  I was stupid."  Justin shrugs and then stills.  "Someone's
coming.  I better get back to shovelling shit."

Nick nods, because he doesn't want to get Justin into trouble, but
he can't help but think that maybe Justin's ashamed to be seen with
him.  "Okay.  I need to deliver this note.  I'm sorry you got stuck
doing this."  He looks around to see if anyone's coming, and then
leaves.

Justin sighs.  When it's all said and done, when the last stall is
emptied, he'll go sleep in a room of people who would hurt him if
it helped them.  But right now, he's got the smell of Nick to keep
him company.

"Hey, kid," someone says from the other side of the stall.

"Hello."

"I'm only gonna tell you this once, so I hope you're listening. 
You suck.  You're worst Slytherin I've ever *heard* of, and that's
saying something.  If the hat put you there, it had a reason. 
Maybe it's because you got some dream that's more important to you
than anything else.  I sure as hell can't see any other reason. 
You gotta learn -- protect you and yours with everything you got. 
Your kind isn't gonna respect you if you don't.  And as loyal as
Hufflepuffs are, you aren't gonna keep yours if you aren't willing
to risk anything for him.  Fair warning."

"Okay.  Thanks.  Who are you?"

There's no answer.  The owner of the voice is already gone.

Justin rolls his eyes.  "Duh.  Well, okay, then."  He wonders if
they'll ever figure it out.  Probably this year.  After all, this
year he has Nick to protect.  He's spent the last four and a half
being the *worst* Slytherin ever.  But to protect Nick, he'll have
to give up the ruse.  Nick's worth it, anyway.

Chris shakes his head as he heads back to the castle.  The quality
of Slytherins is going way down these days.  If the kid had asked
a single intelligent question, Chris would have answered it.  But
'Who are you?'  That was just stupid.

He doesn't know why he's going through this pretense of finishing
his education when he's older than all of the students and some of
the teachers, but he has a cause now.  He's gonna see that this
Nick boy doesn't get hurt.  Chris has always had a soft spot for
Hufflepuffs.

~~~

Seven days, seven detentions, seven feet of parchment later,
Justin's free.  He's already put down three attempts to hurt Nick
and two to hurt himself.  It's going to be a busy year.  At least
he won't be bored, he thinks.

Nick laughs.  He's never met anyone as funny and irreverent as
Chris.  The Ravenclaw doesn't take anything seriously, and he
always has a witty remark for anyone who tries to harass him about
his age.  Nick admires wit, particularly because he knows he
doesn't have any.  He also admires Chris' way taking care of people
without having to use magic against them.  He doesn't like how
people who are good at their classes terrorize the ones who aren't.

To be fair, not all of the terrorizing is done by the Slytherins. 
Justin seems to want Nick to believe that they're all evil except
for himself, but Nick believes that people are just people and that
there's people worth knowing even in Slytherin.  If he didn't think
that, he'd never have even talked to Justin after all.

Chris grins back at Nick, and then says in an exaggerated whisper. 
"Oops.  Looks like the boyfriend's seen us and is on a rampage."

Nick shakes his head.  "Justin's not like that."

"Then why is he giving me the 'touch my boy and die' look?"

Nick looks again and shakes his head.  "No, he's not."

"Oh.  So you're saying he permanently looks constipated then?"

They're both laughing hard when Justin comes up to them.

Justin sits down quietly.  He likes the Nick has Chris to talk to. 
They're good friends for each other.  Chris's eyes, though, always
seem to be judging Justin and finding him lacking.  It scares him
and reminds him of things he'd rather not recall.  When they've
finished laughing -- for the moment -- he says, "Hello."

"Hey, J," Chris says.  "Have you ever considered the importance of
fiber in your diet?"

Nick elbows him.

Chris looks at him with an innocent expression.  "What?  I was just
asking."

"Sorry," Nick says to Justin.  "Chris thinks he's funny."

"I do not.  I *know* I'm funny."

"He is funny," Justin agrees.  "It just depend which side of the
joke you're sitting on."

"You're not mad or anything, are you?" Nick asks uncertainly.  "It
wasn't a mean joke or anything."

"Of course, he's not mad," Chris says, flashing a quick look at
Justin.  "He knows his boyfriend wouldn't make jokes at his
expense."

"Right."  Justin nods.  "I'm not mad.  Did you two figure out how
to use moonstone in the third potion?"

"No," Nick says.

"Yes," Chris says at the same time.

"Oh.  Um.  Hint?"

Nick rolls his eyes.  "Don't listen to Chris.  'Harmonizing the
negative energies of the xakra bile' is not a real answer."

"Shows what you know.  Betcha didn't put in the bit about needing
a pagoda to finish it off either."

"Well, damn.  That'd be useful at least."  Justin laughs.

"I'm going to look up 'pagoda' and find out what it means," Nick
threatens.

Chris smiles angelically.  "Then my work here is done."

"It's a little house thing, isn't it?  Oriental."

Nick glares at Chris.  "You probably made up the moonstone thing
too."

"I admit to nothing.  But you are learning a lot about doing your
own research, aren't you?"

"I swear you belong in Slytherin," Nick says, bending back to his
homework.

"Now maybe.  But back in my distant youth, I was still seduced by
a love of knowledge."

Justin snorts and pulls out his own books.  The lawns are still
warm, so it's a good place to do homework.  "Hey, Chris?  Have you
met Joey Fatone?  He's a Slytherin.  I bet you'd like him."

"Is not.  He's a Hufflepuff.  You're thinking of his brother,
Steve."

"Well, it was Joey who was in our house meeting."

"Really?  We're talking about the same guy, right?  Broad
shoulders, big smile, real touchy-feely?"

"Yeah."

"I don't believe it," Chris says definitely.  The guy's never met
anyone who isn't a friend.  Sincere as hell, too.  "I refuse to
believe that he could be a Slytherin."

Justin shrugs.  "Okay.  Maybe he was at the meeting for some
totally different purpose, having nothing to do with planning house
activities."

"Whatever."  Chris stands up.  "See you around, Nick.  Timberlake."

Nick doesn't know why Chris feels like he has to leave, but he
accepts it.  "See you later."

Justin watches Chris walk away.  "Did I make him leave?" he asks
Nick.

"Maybe?" Nick says.

"I didn't mean to."

"Okay."  Nick isn't going to argue.

Justin looks at Nick.  "I'm kinda confused, here.  Anyway, also, I
figured out the moonstone."

"I like Chris," Nick offers, even though that doesn't have anything
do with anything.  "So what's the moonstone for?"

"It's the catalyst."  Justin knows Nick likes Chris.  Everyone
knows Nick likes Chris and Chris likes Nick back.  And everyone
knows Justin likes Nick, too.

"Catalyst?"

"Yeah."  Justin shows Nick his work, how the moonstone makes the
potion into what it needs to be.  They're sitting very close
together, and Nick smells awfully nice.

Nick still doesn't get what a catalyst is.  He thinks maybe he'll
ask Chris about it later.  Chris has a way of explaining things so
they make sense to Nick.  Nick knows he's a little slow
academically.  He understands people better than he does any of his
classes.  He does the best at Divination because of that, but he
hasn't told the professor that the reason he does such good
predictions is because he's using his sense of who people are.  He
suspects it's cheating.

Chris wanders casually down to the Slytherin common room and
sweet-talks the portrait into telling Lance that he's there to see
him.

Lance comes out, frowning.  "What do you want to talk about,
Kirkpatrick?"  He hasn't challenged Chris, because the teachers
favor him, and Lance isn't going to do anything stupid.  He also
hasn't figured out yet whose side Chris is on or whether Chris can
be used.

"Nick."

"Mudblood."

"Like I care.  I want you and your buddies to leave him alone. 
Like the plague.  Like all the forces of hell itself will descend
upon you if you mess with him."

"Slytherins don't believe in God.  He's nothing but a Muggle
delusion."

"Let me put it another way," Chris suggests.  "I'm taking an
interest in him."

"And?"

"Bass, don't waste my time."

Lance nods.  Chris isn't going to make direct threats, because they
can be taken as evidence of his intentions.  It's a very Slytherin
way to think.  He can respect that.  "Fine.  But it's disgusting
seeing him hang off of purebloods."

"Oh, please.  You don't have anything to be jealous of."

"I'm not jealous," Lance denies quickly.

"Of course not," Chris says drily.

"So long as you're interested in him, we'll leave him alone."

"As long as I keep him off the market so that everyone returns to
worshipping at your feet, you mean."

"Whatever."

"Deal."  Chris doesn't tell Lance that Nick's real charm is that
Nick isn't even aware that there *is* a competition.  Lance
wouldn't understand.

Justin sees Chris and Lance talking.  He waits for Chris.  "What
was that about?" he asks when the older boy comes up the stairs.

"Just brushing up on my foreign languages," Chris says.

"Did you just make my -- no, *Nick's* life harder or easier?"

"I don't give a damn about your life.  You're a Slytherin.  What
that means when it comes right down to it, is that you can take
care of yourself.  Nick doesn't have the slightest idea that he
even needs to."  Chris says it like it should be blindingly
obvious, even to someone as retarded as Justin.

"I *know* that.  So, you're taking care of Nick, then?  Warning
Lance off?"

"Got a problem with that?"  He's testing.

"Sort of, but it's just pride, so fuck it.  As long as Nick's
okay."

Chris shakes his head in disbelief.  "This is the reason I had to
get involved," he says, as he quickly takes the stairs in twos and
three.  "An attitude like that has no place in a situation like
this."

Justin follows.  "Oh, yeah?  So explain it, if I'm so stupid."

"What good would it do?  You wouldn't understand it."

"I could try, anyway."

"Nah.  It's not worth my time."

"Well, that's familiar," Justin mutters.  He stops following Chris,
though, watching him walk away.

"Come see me if you develop a brain!" Chris hollers, before heading
inside the sanctum of the library.

Justin is starting to think he never had a brain to begin with.

Sadly, he needs to go into the library, too.  He considers simply
not doing his homework for all of ten minutes.  But he really can't
be in detention because that seems to be when most bad things are
planned for Nick.  Though if Chris was telling the truth, it might
be better in the future.  He goes into the library and finds a seat
without looking at anyone.  This whole actually getting good grades
thing takes *far* longer than purposely failing as he has been for
the last four years.

Chris drops his books on the table across from Justin and silently
gets to work.

Justin barely notices Chris after the first bang of his books on
the table.  Focus is one of the few natural talents Justin has.

After a while, a piece of parchment crosses the table and
insinuates itself in among Justin's things.

Justin frowns.  "I think this is yours."  He offers the paper back
to Chris, face down.

Chris rolls his eyes and writes across it, 'Read Me.'  Then he
passes it back.

Justin turns the paper over and reads.

'If you really must know,' the paper says, 'I think there's
something suspicious going on here.  As in, you.  Not a Slytherin. 
I don't know what you are, but you're not what you seem to be. 
Which, ironically, is the only way in which you actually qualify as
a Slytherin.  Nick, on the other hand, is exactly what he seems. 
I like Nick.  I'm going to make sure he's okay, regardless of
what's going on with you.  Get it?  Please don't tell me if you
don't.  I'm hoping you really aren't *that* stupid.'

Justin nods and folds the paper.  He'll destroy it later, of
course, but not now.

When Chris gets his studying done, he heads out.  There's always
more to know, but the most fascinating stuff isn't happening in the
books.  It's happening all around him.

Justin thinks it's ironic that something he's been telling people
for years -- that he doesn't belong in Slytherin -- is finally
being agreed upon by so many people.  He looks up, meaning to see
how long he has before curfew.  And it's about two minutes, which
is nowhere near long enough to get to the dungeon.  Sneaking is in
order.  Justin grins, because he loves sneaking.  He's not good at
it, but he enjoys it.  Which explains why he gets caught by
Professor Richardson.  So close, and yet so far away.

"Mister Timberlake," Richardson says repressively.  "You are
extraordinarily inept at the art of not getting caught.  I had
hoped it would be obvious that if you must break the rules, that
the most basic principle of all is to not get caught.  Three days
detention."

"Yes, sir," Justin says, grinning.

"Shoo," Richardson says, continuing on his way to his clandestine
rendezvous with Professor Dorough.  He practices a more subtle art
than that: The Plausible Excuse.

Justin shoos.  His bedclothes hide a doxy and his pajamas a
particularly annoying hex.  Luckily, he knows how to deal with
both, and he banishes them before climbing into bed.

~~~~

Weeks tumble by in some pattern Justin's not really aware of.  He
keeps studying for his OWLS and practicing in secret.  He and Nick
and Chris spend their Hogsmeade weekend together.  It's actually
really nice, even if Chris does keep throwing questioning looks at
him.

The sad part of it all is that Chris is totally right.  Justin
completely doesn't belong in Slytherin, except that he somehow
does.  The only thing he can really think of is the common
deception he's been practicing since he got here -- pretending to
be stupid.  But now he's not pretending.  And if there's more to
it, if he really is here for some bigger plan, something special,
he doesn't know what it is.  He doesn't *doubt*  that there could
be something behind this, but he's clueless.

It's odd, how easily he accepts that he has a purpose in Slytherin. 
Maybe he's just as stupid as he pretended to be, though, because he
never tries to discover what it is.  He never searches his mind for
memories or blackouts to explain why he's here.  And he doesn't
feel special at all.  Shouldn't he feel special if he's really
doing something tricky and important?  But he doesn't.  And he
doesn't question.  And life goes on.

The first owl arrives at breakfast.  It's for a Gryffindor girl,
and aside from the nosedive the bird takes into the table, there's
nothing unusual about it.  Owls arrive all the time.

Only at lunch, the performance is repeated, this time with about 30
harried, urgent owls, half of whom fly out just as fast as soon as
they're relieved of their messages.

Nick, who hasn't gotten one, has no idea what's going on.  Rumors
are flying around the school that the Dark Lord is back, that
there's a scandal with the Potions instructor and an underage
Durmstrang student, that the country itself is under attack.

Justin's owl arrives at dinner.  The message it bears is simple. 
'Prepare yourself to come home'.

Justin swallows hard.  Home is not where he wants to go right now. 
He has a choice to make, of course.  He could refuse to go.  He
looks across the hall at Nick.  This isn't something he can decide
alone.

Nick raises his eyebrows at Justin, curious, but he's going to have
to wait to find out what Justin's owl said.

It's not hard to meet with Nick.  A simple signal and they both
wander out onto the grounds at the same time.  But Chris is already
there, where they meet.  Justin doesn't care.  He needs help. 
Chris is apparently really fucking smart, so he can help.  When
they're all gathered in the circle of the weeping willow's
branches, Justin hands the paper to Nick.

Nick reads it and looks up.  "I don't understand.  What's going
on?"

"Doom.  The end of the world," Chris says.  "The usual."

Justin scowls at Chris.  "My father is calling me home.  That means
the Dark Lord is rising and we're about to fight.  Or maybe just
that I'm supposed to join them."

"Um," Nick says.  "But that's a good thing, right?"

Chris doesn't look away from Justin.  "Depends on what side you're
on."

"He's not on the good side," Justin says.  "I don't think.  Anyway,
this calling me home.  He wouldn't do that if he were on the good
side, would he?"

"Maybe," Nick says uncertainly.  "If he's worried about you being
safe here.  I mean..."  He doesn't finish the sentence.  He *knows*
Justin isn't evil, but he *is* a Slytherin...

Justin nods.  "Yeah.  I-- I wanted your opinion.  What you think I
should do."

Nick shrugs helplessly.  "I don't know.  I don't know what's going
on.  I don't know what side anyone's on.  I don't know what we can
do."

Chris nods.  "We need more information.  Do you know that your
father's on the side of good or not?"

"No, I don't.  I won't know until I go home or don't."

"How can you not have *any* idea?" Nick asks in bewilderment.  "I
mean, my dad's okay.  He's kinda clueless and y'know, he and my mom
are divorced, but if I got a letter like that from him, I'd know it
wasn't for anything bad.  Besides," he adds as an afterthought,
"he's a Muggle."

Chris spreads his hands.  "Hey, don't look at me.  All Muggle
here."

"My father and mother have me to be heir.  Nothing more.  I think
they're bad, but it could be an act.  They could be really good and
just working undercover.  Right?"  Justin hears himself, and it's
incredibly naive.  'Please, please tell me my parents are good
people.'  He snorts at himself.  "Yeah.  They're bad, they're
probably bad."

Nick nods.  "So don't go home.  Stay here."

"I don't belong in Slytherin," Justin says, looking at Chris.  "But
I must be there for a reason, right?"

"Maybe the hat thought you needed to learn survival instincts,"
Chris says, tacitly agreeing with Justin.  "Hard to say without
asking it."

"Survival instincts I came with," Justin says.  He smiles, but it's
not exactly amused.  "So.  I go home, huh, and find out what's up. 
I try to get word back here?"

"Stay," Nick says again.

Justin looks at Nick for a long moment.  "They'll come here,
eventually.  They'll try to break in and destroy everyone and
everything not loyal to the Dark Lord.  They'll come here and try
to kill you.  I *cannot* let that happen."

Nick looks betrayed.

Chris puts his hand on Justin's shoulder.  "I'll look after him,
all right.  Make sure he's okay."

"I don't *need* anyone to make sure I'm okay!" Nick protests.  "You
don't know if you can do anything there.  Stay."

Justin reaches out and touches Nick's chest.  It's really stupid as
a caring touch, but it's not like they've touched each other often
anyway.  "I want to keep you safe, Nick."

"You don't even know that there's anything to keep me safe from! 
Maybe your dad wants you home so he can marry you off or send you
to India or something."

"If he does, I'll run back here, okay?"

Nick snorts, but eventually nods.  "Okay.  But I'm going to be
really mad if you end up being the one who's in trouble."

"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say.  You're just ticked because
I won't be here to sneak out of double Herbology with."

"I like Herbology.  I just like being with you more."

"Ditto."

"Hah!  You don't like Herbology.  You always complain about getting
your hands dirty."

"I like being with you more, though."

"You like a lot of things more than getting your hands dirty," Nick
retorts, but he slips his arm over Justin's shoulder.

Justin's closer to Nick than he's been to anyone in a long time. 
He leans in and hugs Nick around the waist with one arm.  "Yeah,
yeah.  Now, we have to find a way I can contact you."

"I can help with that," Chris announces.  "I've had some ideas
about that."

"Do tell, wise one."

"Well, I *am* a Ravenclaw."

"Like I said.  Talk."  Justin wonders when Nick got taller than
him.  It's awfully comfortable to stand like this.

"You know what a phone is?" Chris starts.  Nick nods, Justin
doesn't.  "It's a Muggle thing.  They can talk to each other over
great distances instantly, without anything having to travel
anywhere.  And I was thinking.  You can't Accio paper that far,
because everyone'd see it going through the air and people would
catch on.  But what if you could Accio a sound?"

"Hmmm."

"The trick is how you package and label the sound so it's a thing
you can summon.  But I think I've got it figured out."

Justin nods and listens.  Chris's idea just might work.  And Nick's
cologne is very, very distracting.

"Anyway," Chris finishes, "the proof is in doing it.  So that's
what I wanna do -- test it."

"Right.  Fast, too, because I'm sure I'll be leaving tonight."

Nick goes white.  "Chris?  Could you maybe go away and work
something up?  I need some time with Justin."

"But I don't need any supplies other than my wand... oh.  Never
mind."  Chris retreats, out of hearing, but still within sight.

"What's wrong?" Justin asks, looking up at Nick.  "Are you all
right?"

Nick wraps his arms around Justin.  "You're leaving."

"Yes.  I am."  Justin holds Nick back, unsure of exactly where to
put his hands, but trying.

"Kiss me," Nick says, head bent into Justin's hair.  "Before you
go."

Justin looks up, eyes wide and shocked.  "Really?"

Nick mistakes Justin's hesitance for unwillingness.  "If you don't
want to, it's all right.  I mean, if that's not what you wanted."

Justin pulls Nick's head down and kisses him, slowly and gently. 
When they break apart, he says, "I've wanted to."

Nick is flushed.  "Good," he says, and kisses Justin again.

Nick is much better at kissing than Justin is.  Justin's dazed and
jealous.  Who's Nick been practicing with, anyway?  But in the end
dazed wins out, and Justin just hugs Nick tightly and feels.

Chris coughs.  "If that's settled, I need you two to try this."

Justin giggles soundlessly and presses his face to Nick's shoulder. 
"Okay."

"Now," Chris says, "I think this can be done without a physical
object to act as a focus, but out of courtesy to the lesser
intellects I'm working with here, I think we're going to need an
object to make it seem more real to you.  The idea here is that
Nick, say, has an object that he talks to when he has a message to
send to you, Justin.  And he magically labels the contents of the
object as 'message for Justin' or something like that."

"Like a Pensieve?" Nick asks.

"No!" Chris says.  "It's nothing like a Pensieve.  C'mon, work with
me here."  He sees the look of comprehension on Nick's face slide
back into confusion.  "Okay.  Like a Pensieve.  When Justin wants
to pick up that message, he Accios it by name."

"How do I send it here?  Or do *you* Accio it from here?"

"You'd put your message into your Pensieve, and Nick would Accio
it."

"Okay.  Not a Pensieve, though.  And he'd say, 'Accio message for
Nick', right?"

"Right.  Or you could decide to call it something else.  As long as
you both know what to Accio."

"Message for Nick is fine," Nick says.

Justin nods and realizes he's still in Nick's arms.  He likes it. 
"Do we need to know where it's being stored?  I mean, does Nick
need to know I'm putting the message in a certain object?"

"No.  All he needs to know to pick up the message is what you
called it and when to pick it up.  You should have a regular time
of day to pick up messages, like every night right before bed."

"I can do that," Nick says.

"I won't have a steady time for that."  Justin thinks hard. 
"There's usually a set dinner.  Say, seven o'clock?"

Nick nods.  "That's easy."

"Good.  Good.  Okay.  I have to pack."  Justin hears the tower
chime eight.  "We better hurry."

"And we need to try it out first!" Chris says, but Justin's already
rushing off, Nick right behind him.  Chris pouts.  "Brain the size
of a planet, and without a degree, I can't get a job.  Life sucks."

Justin and Nick do a quick practice run as Justin packs, and then
it's time to go.  His father comes for him in a wave of expensive
clothing and arrogance.  Justin follows quickly.

"He'll return for OWLS," Paul Timberlake says.

Justin sees Nick watching, waves goodbye, and then Hogwarts is gone
from his sight.  At least he knows he's coming back some time.

~~~~

'Dear Justin.
Things are fine at school.  A lot of kids have left.  They say that
the Dark Lord is back.  Lance smirks at me a lot, but I don't know
why.  I'm looking forward to the winter holiday so I can see my dad
and my brother again.  I'd rather see you, but of course, I can't.
Love, Nick.'

~~~~

'Dear Nick.
It's getting a little hectic here.  More and more people arrive and
leave every day.  I think some sort of ceremony is coming up. 
Please tell Headmaster Chasez that I think we'll all be initiated
a week from Friday.  I miss you something awful, Nicky.  Stay safe.
Love, Justin.'

~~~~

'Dear Justin.
I am trying to think of something to get you for Christmas.  I
tried to get Chris to help, but Chris says that you'll like the
present more if it's something I think of.  I don't know if he's
right, or just trying to drive me crazy.  What do you want?  Oh. 
when I say Christmas, I mean winter solstice.  Chris says
purebloods don't do Christmas because they think it's a Muggle
holiday.
Love, Nick.'

~~~~

'Dear Nick.
Anything from you will make me feel wonderful.  I don't mean to
scare you, Nick, but it's getting sort of difficult here. 
Frightening.  The people who come now aren't always human.  There
are dementors living in my basement.  Most of the time, I'm in
lessons.  Dark Arts lessons.  I've learned a lot of things I don't
want to know, but also a great many I think will help us, when the
time comes.  I'm hiding your Christmas present now.  Labeled
'Present for Nick'.  Don't worry about it being seen, I've put an
invisibility spell on it and left my window open.  Mother got a
letter from Hogwarts today.  I think it's something to do with all
the bad marks I've gotten, because I'm to meet with her in a few
minutes.  Be safe.
Love, Justin.'

~~~~

'Dear Justin,
I don't know if I'm going to get you a present.  A real present, I
mean.  Even if I have to wrap up a couple of Chocolate Frogs, I'll
send you something.  But I'm really worried here.  About you.  And
about going home for the holidays.  I wrote my dad and told him I
didn't want to come home for Christmas this year because I didn't
feel like celebrating.  See, it's his year to have me.  He trades
with my mom.  But I got an owl back from my mom telling me that I
*have* to go to her house for solstice.  I never said anything
about my mom, because I didn't want to.  She's kinda scary.  I'm
glad I only have to see her sometimes.  Wish I could be with you.
Love, Nick.'

~~~~

'I'm coming back.
Justin'

~~~~

Justin arrives a week before vacation.  He goes straight to the
Headmaster's office.  After an exhausting interview he finds Chris
and Nick, calling them out of class with a note from Headmaster
Chasez.

Nick grabs Justin up in a hug as soon as he sees him.  "Justin!"

Chris doesn't bother acknowledging Justin's presence.  Justin isn't
in any condition to notice his, after all.

Justin laughs and hugs Nick back.  "C'mon.  Let's find a
classroom."  It feels good to laugh and better to be touched
without it hurting.  Justin reaches out, touching Chris's shoulder
lightly.  "It's good to see you both."

"Yeah, yeah.  Get to the point," Chris says, and turns and leads
them away.  "You being here strikes me as being a very bad sign."

Justin frowns, looking down until they're in a classroom.  "Okay. 
To the point.  I've been inducted into the bad guys.  Yay and Joy
or something.  The Dark Lord has spies here at Hogwarts who sent
word to my parents that I'd been interested in Nick.  I'm ordered
to seduce him and control him.  I found out who the Dark Lord is." 
Justin pauses, taking a deep breath.  "I'm so, so sorry, Nick."

Nick's brow wrinkles.  "Why?  I'm not upset that you're supposed to
seduce me.  I know you wouldn't really try to control me or
whatever."

"Nick, Nick.  It's your mother.  It's Jane."

"What about my mother?" Nick asks.

"Nick's *mother* is the Dark Lord?" Chris asks incredulously.

"Huh?" Nick says.

"Yeah.  Dark Lord, Jane Carter.  She-- she wants to use Nick."

"Use me for what?" Nick asks.

"Power.  She wants to kill you."  Justin shivers.  His parents
don't like him, and it hurts.  How much would it hurt to know your
mother wanted to kill you?

Chris nods in comprehension.  "Blood rites.  The closer the
sacrifice is to you, the more powerful it is.  The most powerful
sacrifice is yourself, the next, an unborn fetus, and then
children, and then parents in that order."

"What about..." Nick hesitates, licking his lips nervously. 
"Identical twins?"

"That'd be the best of all," Chris says.  "Yourself, but not.  Why? 
Are you a twin?"

Nick shakes his head.  "I'm not.  But my little brother, Aaron,
was.  Before Angel died."

Chris looks at Nick, then at Justin.  He isn't going to say what
he's thinking out loud.

Justin clears his throat.  "She, um.  She says Aaron's her true
heir."

"He's too young for Hogwarts," Nick says.  "He isn't supposed to
come up for two more years yet."

"Somehow, I don't think she cares."

"I'm not going back," Nick says.  "I can't go back."

Chris rolls his eyes.  "I can safely say that would be a very bad
idea."

"Yes.  But I might be able to convince them not to move right away. 
I can say it's taking me some time to convince you."

"What does it matter?" Nick asks, more loudly.  "I'm not going."

"Kid..." Chris starts.

"No, you're not," Justin agrees, hugging Nick tightly.  "Never. 
But we don't want them storming the castle to get you until we're
ready for them."

Chris shakes his head.  "They wouldn't storm the castle.  They
don't need to."

"What?" Nick asks.  "I'm not going."

"I get that.  But all they need is enough students on their side
and they can immobilize you and float you out of here.  Turn you
invisible, and no one would ever notice."

"Right.  So, well, I just need to make sure they don't do that."

Nick looks at Justin incredulously.  "How are you gonna do that?"

"I'm going to tell them I can get you to come willingly, if they
just give me time.  And I've already talked to the headmaster, and
he'll help put up special wards to keep you here."

"Come willingly?" Chris asks.  "You sure?  I mean, no offense
meant, but even Nick isn't dumb enough not to be suspicious of you
leaving then coming back to persuade him to do something he doesn't
want to do."

"They don't know that.  They think he is.  Hell, they expected me
to seduce him in a week."  Justin looks away.  "I've been receiving
some special training in seduction and the use of my veela
heritage."

Chris snorts.  "Boy, if you have any veela in you, it's a *long*
way back.  The only thing we have to rely on here is the same thing
good always relies on -- that evil is stupid."

"Yeah, well.  Evil's not stupid.  It's overconfident."

"So what are we actually going to do?" Nick asks.  "I mean, I'm
glad that I'm not going to get killed, but how does that stop my
mother?"

"That's not our job.  That's the Headmaster's job."

"Like he's done anything about it before," Nick says.

"Kid's got a point," Chris says.  "It's not like we've seen any
signs of an organized defense plan around here."

"We're kids.  I don't think we're supposed to know what's going
on."

"Right.  Even when one of us is the key to it all."

"Yeah.  Even then.  Well, you could go and demand to be told.  You
have the right."

Nick shakes his head at the same time Chris does.  "Why?  You
already told me."

"And," Chris adds, "if they've kept us in the dark this long, they
aren't going to let us in on any plans to fix it."

Justin shrugs.  "I don't know."  He sits heavily at one of the
tables.

"So we need to stop my mom somehow.  And Aaron."  Nick looks a
little sick at the thought.  He doesn't like his mother, but he's
always thought Aaron was cute and nice and a good brother.

Justin lays his head on his folded arms and watches them.

"Poison in their soup?" Chris suggests.

Nick shrugs.  "I don't want to have to do anything about it.  Why
can she just be a normal crappy mom?  Why does there have to be
this big evil and people taking over the world?  It's stupid."

"From the mouth of a Hufflepuff."

"Shuddup."  Nick shoves Chris.  "Don't make fun of me."

Justin closes his eyes.  He's tired.

"Justin?" Nick asks tentatively.  He puts his hand on Justin's
shoulder.  "Are you okay?"

Justin sits up suddenly.  "Yes, sir?"

Nick looks confused.  "What?"

Justin shakes his head.  "Sorry.  Dozed off for a moment there." 
He smiles at Nick.  "Sorry."

"C'mon.  You should go to bed and get some sleep.  I'll walk you
down to your dorm.  It'll make people think you're really in love
with me."

"I *am* really in love with you.  But I have to go to my afternoon
classes, same as you two."

"Do not," Nick says stubbornly.  "You just got back.  Your first
day is tomorrow, not today."

Chris gives Justin a little smile.  "Gotta agree with him.  It's
not really a Slytherin quality to go to classes when it's not
required.  And right now, you've got to be more convincing than
ever."

"It is required.  I've got potions."  Justin smirks.  "Time to
reconnoiter."

Nick shrugs, feeling helpless.  Nobody listens to him, so he
shouldn't be surprised that Justin isn't.  Even Chris, who does
sometime listen, makes fun of Nick most of the time.

Justin looks up at Nick.  "On second thought, I could just take you
and run away.  Wanna play hooky for the afternoon?"

"No."  Nick shakes his head.  "I'm not going to wear you out even
more.  Besides, you're probably right.  We need to work on saving
the world."

"I don't wanna save the world, I wanna sleep with you," Justin says
crankily.  Then he realizes how it sounds and flushes lightly. 
Either way, it's true, so why correct himself?

"Oh."  Nick looks at him.  "Like, right now?"

"I'm sleepy now.   You said I should sleep... didn't you?"

"You should."

"Well.  I think you should come with me," Justin says quietly. 
"Or, rather, I'd like you to come with me."

"Into Slytherin's dorm?" Nick asks doubtfully.

"No.  The Room of Requirement, I think."

Chris nods.  "If you can find it, that'd be perfect."

"I know how to find it."

Nick puts his hand in Justin's.  "Let's go."

~~~~

The door opens onto a room with a hundred lovely things.  All
Justin sees is the bed.  He walks steadily toward it, tired enough
to sleep on top of the heavy blankets.

Nick follows Justin unhesitatingly.  He kicks off his shoes and
takes off his robe.  When Justin just collapses on the bed, he
says, "Um.  It's a little cold for sleeping on top of the
blankets."  He tries to pull the covers out from under Justin.

Justin rolls over, actually sits up.  Stands, even, and starts
shedding his robe.

Nick pulls the covers all the way back and gets in, waiting for
Justin.  This is kinda weird, but then, the whole day has been
weird.

Justin kicks off his shoes and climbs into bed, curling lightly
next to Nick.  He wants to touch Nick, hold him like a teddy bear.

Nick lies on his side, watching Justin.

Justin watches Nick.  "I was afraid I wouldn't see you again."

"You said you'd come back if anything like that happened.  If they
tried to marry you off or something."

"I was afraid I wouldn't get the chance to."

"Then why did you go?"

"I wanted to help keep you safe.  Other people, too, but mostly
you."

"Thank you."

"Thank you for being here and letting me help."

Nick shrugs.  "I didn't do anything.  Just went to class."

"Can I borrow your notes?" Justin asks, smiling.

"Sure.  You should probably borrow Chris' though.  He does better
in classes than me."

"Sleep with me?"

"I'm right here."

Justin closes his eyes.

After a while, when Justin seems to be quiet, Nick reaches out and
puts his arm over him.  He wants to hold Justin, but he doesn't
know if Justin wants that.  Maybe Justin is one of those people who
can't sleep when other people are touching them.

Justin's eyes open, frightened until he sees Nick.  He smiles,
then, and slides right up against Nick and holds him back.

For a minute, Nick thinks Justin is going to pull away, but then
Justin touches him back.  Nick closes his eyes and tries to sleep.

~~~~

Justin wakes to a discreet throat clearing.  He and Nick have been
using the RoR as their meeting place for over a month now.  The
plot continues to thicken, as far as Justin knows.  He's only been
called home once in the whole month.  His progress reports are
taken through the floo system.  Recently, something big has been
happening.  He's been ordered to keep his eyes on Nick at all
times.

Justin's still thinking back when the throat is cleared again.  He
opens his eyes and sees Professor Richardson and the Headmaster at
the foot of the bed.  "Um.  Hello?"

"Brilliant, Timberlake.  Simply brilliant," Richardson drawls.

Before he can say more, the Headmaster says, "We've defeated the
Dark Lord and her heir is in our custody.  It was the final
communication from your father that revealed her location.  We
thank you for your service."

Nick yawns and turns over.

Justin shakes Nick lightly.  "Wake up."

"Don't wanna."

"Nick, wake up.  It's about your mother."

Nick comes awake fast, wand in his hand.  "Where?"

"*About* your mother, Nick."

The Headmaster repeats the news to Nick.  Justin watches
contradictory emotions race across his face and waits to hear what
Nick will say.

"Is she dead?" Nick asks.

"Yes.  Yes, she is."

Nick nods.  "Aaron..."  He swallows hard.  "Don't be fooled by the
cute and innocent look.  I don't know how much was his idea and how
much was mom -- but you shouldn't make up your mind about him
because he's young and small and looks helpless.  He's not.  I
always knew he was going to get somewhere.  That he was going to do
a lot more than me -- but I never thought it'd be this."

The Headmaster nods.  "We shall watch him most carefully."

Justin wraps his arm around Nick's waist and hugs him.

Nick speaks into Justin's neck.  "If he killed Angel, you should
kill him."

"We shall see."

Nick isn't going to say anything else.  Nobody ever listens to him. 
But he knows.  If Aaron really did all those things along with
their mom, then Aaron's much more dangerous than she could ever be. 
Because Aaron's not mean or stupid or cruel.  Because everyone will
fall at his feet if he wants to rule the world.  He won't have to
make them lie down.

Nick wonders if Aaron talked Angel into sacrificing her life.  If
his beloved sister had thought it was her own idea at the end.

Justin kisses Nick's hair.  "If he did it?"

Headmaster Chasez nods.  "If he did it, he will die."

Nick doesn't say anything.  If things had been just a little
different, his mother wouldn't have made the mistake of ordering
him home.  If Aaron had asked him to come home for solstice, had
explained that Nick's life was necessary for Aaron's safety and
well-being...  Nick would have gone happily.

Justin nods.  The professors leave.  Justin's not sure why
Richardson was there in the first place.  "Are you going to be
okay, Nick?"

"I don't know."

"Can I help?"

"I don't know if anyone can."

Justin nods and kisses the side of Nick's neck, holding him close.

Nick shivers and hopes.