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That’s Why I Trust You


Wally stayed behind from breakfast to pack the things the boys would need for their journey to save Harold Minchum. They’d knicked some stuff from about the castle - a steak knife from the Great Hall in case of needing to cut any ropes or anything, and a couple bottles of pumpkin juice as well… They’d stolen a vial of potion from Slughorn’s store that they were fairly certain was a healing salve he’d talked about at the start of term… James Potter’s invisibility cloak, of course… their Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook (in case they needed to look up a spell real fast in a duel)... extra socks… and a blanket, in case the Minister was cold when they found him. Wally was looking for a spare comb - in case they were interviewed by the Prophet before they had a chance to wash up - when the door opened and Oliver came in the room.

“Hey Wally,” Ollie said.

Wally looked up. “Hullo.” He turned back to the drawer he was digging through.

Ollie sat down on the end of his bed and looked at all the stuff Wally had collected, sprawled across his duvet, waiting to be packed up. “What’s all that for?” he asked, curiously.

Wally turned as he drew the comb he was looking for out of his bag. “Just stuff.”

Ollie’s eyes travelled over the things he had, “Are you going somewhere?” he asked, confused.

Wally hesitated.

“Where are you going?”

Wally bit his lip.

“Wally?”

Quickly, he aimed his wand at the door of the dormitory, locking it, then turned to Ollie, “Is it true what they say?”

“What who says? About what?” Ollie looked deeply confused.

Wally went over and knelt down before Oliver, staring up at him. “That you fancy me.”

The colour drained out of Oliver’s face. “Who - who said - who told you --?”

“Liam said everyone says it.”

Oliver stared at Wally, panic in his eyes, his round little nose flared as he looked at Wally pleadingly, “I didn’t - I - I - I know you’re not - it’s not - we’re friends - I know.”

“But is it true?” Wally asked.

Oliver looked very much like he wanted to cry.

“It is, isn’t it?” Wally stared at him, right in the eyes…

“Yes,” Oliver squeaked, “Yes, yes. I do, I do. But I know we’re just friends, I don’t want this to change us being friends, please don’t stop being my friend, I’ve missed you when you’ve been hanging about with Dex and Lee. Please, I know we’re just fri---”

Wally had cut him off.

With a kiss.

Oliver sat there with his eyes closed for several moments, even after Wally had pulled back and turned around to go back to packing his things into his bag. “We’re going to save Harold Minchum,” Wally said, “Lee found out where You-Know-Who has him at and we’re going to get him and bring him back to Hogwarts. We’re gonna be heroes.”

Ollie brought his fingers up to touch his lips - they were zinging from the feeling of Wally having kissed him… and he felt so funny, and the way Wally was rushing about, packing, as though it hadn’t happened at all… part of Ollie wondered if he’d imagined the entire thing. He stared at Wally, barely hearing what he was saying.

Suddenly, the door handle rattled and Wally heard Remus Lupin’s voice outside the door. “Wally?”

“Shit. Don’t tell him I’m here.” Wally grabbed the bag of stuff from the bed, pulled it into himself, and flung the invisibility cloak over his head, disappearing.

Ollie’s eyes went wide.

“Alohamora!” and the door pushed open and Remus stuck his head in. “Hey… what’s going on in here? Why are you locking the door for?” he eyed Oliver warily. “Wait. Isn’t Wally here?”

Oliver shook his head.

“Well where is he? I have some pepper up for him… Liam said he wasn’t feeling well and that’s why he’s skipped breakfast…?” Remus asked. Then, noticing Ollie’s face was just sooo flushed, he said, “Oliver? Are you alright?”

Oliver thought rather quickly on his feet and coughed, “I’m the one that was sick, you must’ve misheard Lee.”

Remus looked surprised for a beat, then… “Well, I guess Ollie and Wally do rhyme, don’t they?” and he stepped into the room, passing the other four beds to get to where Wally sat and he drew the little bottle of pepper up from his pocket, “Here you are. Let me feel your forehead.” He reached out a palm and touched his hand to Ollie’s cheek. Remus’s temperature tended to run different than most people - because of his condition - so he was never very good at doing the forehead check thing. But it was something that everyone who had ever taken care of him before had done and it seemed like the proper thing to do - like a handshake when meeting a new person. When checking on someone when they’re ill, you feel their forehead. So Remus did it, though it told him nothing (and thank goodness, too, because Ollie had no fever to speak of anyway). “You need some rest.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna rest,” Oliver nodded.

“I’ll check on you after I get back from Hogsmeade with my mates, alright? If you need anything you call one of the house elves and they’ll get Professor McGonagall for you in a jiffy, alright?” Remus asked, looking at Ollie as he carefully made him lay down and pulled his blankets ‘round him. “Here you are. Tell you what… I have a couple sickles to spend… would a treat from Honeydukes make you feel better?”

Ollie nodded absently.

“Alright I’ll bring you something.” Remus smiled. “But you have to promise you’ll rest ‘til I get back.”

Ollie nodded.

“Very good.”

And Remus left the room, pulling shut the door behind him.

The moment he was gone, Wally pulled the invisibility cloak off.

“How did you do that?” Ollie asked, sitting up, the blankets falling off him.

“James Potter’s invisibility cloak.”

“James Potter’s what??” Ollie’s eyes were huge.

“Invisibility cloak!” Wally said excitedly. “Here -- look.” He held up the shimmering fabric for Ollie to see, then brought it ‘round himself and everything from his shoulders down disappeared. “Brilliant isn’t it?”

Oliver gasped as he watched Wally take it off and put it back on. “James Potter gave you that?”

“No…” Wally looked guilty. “We… we stole it. But we’re gonna give it back! We need it to go to Hogsmeade so we can summon Liam’s house elf so we can disapparate to Malfoy Manor to save Harold Minchum!”

Ollie stared at him, quite terrified.

Wally came ‘round the bed and grabbed onto Oliver’s hands. “Look, Ollie. About before. About the kiss.”

Oliver looked into his eyes.

“I think I might fancy you also.”

Oliver felt quite trembly all over. “You… do?”

“Yes,” Wally replied. “And that’s why I trust you.”

Ollie breathed, “You... you trust me?”

“Yes.” Wally said, “So don’t tell anyone about what me, Lee, and Dex are up to, alright? Not even Rey or Lily. They’ll try and stop us if they know… and… we gotta save Harold Minchum.”

“O-o-okay,” stammered Ollie.
“Promise?” Wally pleaded.

“Promise,” Ollie answered.




Downstairs, in the fifth year dormitory to find James on the verge of throwing up from nerves.

He’d changed no less than nine times before asking for help from Sirius.

In his element as a fashion designer for the hopelessly devoted to school uniform James, Sirius was dusting his shoulders now as they stood before the mirror’s reflection. “Here.” He expertly used the sleekeazy to make James’s hair flow in a neatened manner, still a tad messy, but in a more sophisticated way than it usually was when the mane was allowed to run wild. They’d settled on a pair of trousers and James’s oxford with a vest. The vest was a nice one, a grey vest with black silk on the back, and Sirius tightened it with the little snap on the back so it was fitted better and James’s muscular build was shown off a bit. He smiled as he turned his mate about. “Looking good, Potter,” he said, pride in his voice, “Very good. I’m a miracle worker.”

“Yeah? I - I look okay?” James asked.

“There’s something missing,” Sirius said, contemplating him, stepping back, rubbing his chin. Then he clicked his fingers, “I know.” He spun about on his heel and went over to his bed and picked up his leather jacket. “Here.”

“Your jacket?”

“Yes,” Sirius nodded, “It’ll give you a dash of bad boy over all this clean cut handsomness.” Sirius helped him shrug it on, then reached up and popped the collar at James’s neck and he grinned, staring up at him, “Ah… yes.”

“So… So now I look… I look like someone Lily Evans would want to date?” James asked, nervously.

Sirius held him out at arm length. “Potter, now you look like someone I would fucking want to date! If anyone on this planet looks at you dressed like that and doesn’t get a raging hard on, they have no blood.”

“Girls don’t get those,” Peter said from where he sat counting his galleons on his bed.

Sirius spun James to face Peter. “Look at him, Wormy. Does he not look like the most fucking magnificent creature you’ve ever seen… besides myself, of course?”

Peter shrugged, “He looks alright.”

Sirius rolled his eyes.

“Just alright?” James asked, panic in his voice, “Why just alright? Pete?”

Peter said, “I dunno, I’m not gay, I dunno what looks good.”

Then the door opened and Remus came in, a concerned look on his face, “Have any of you seen Wa-- WHOA, Potter. What the -- Merlin’s beard.” Remus’s eyes were wide.

Sirius grinned, “Instant hard on, yes?”

Remus flushed. “I mean, wow. You look nice.”

“See?” Sirius said, patting James’s shoulders. “Evans is going to dig it.”

James’s palms were soaked.

“Now what were you saying, Rey?”

“Have you lot seen the first year - Wally?” Remus was still looking James over, though, and he picked an errant bit of lint from his chest and smoothed the leather jacket.

Peter said, “Liam said he was sick.”

“Yeah -- thank you! I thought they said Wally was. I was just up at their dorm and Oliver tried to tell me it was him that’s sick. I knew they said Wally though,” Remus shook his head. He paused. “So you lot haven’t seen him then?”

“Isn’t the little seagull in the dorm?” James asked.

“No,” Remus replied, “Ollie was up there, said he hadn’t seen him.” He shook his head, “I wish we had the Map, I’d really like to find him before we go to Hogsmeade so I know he’s alright.”

“Which reminds me, we better go so we have time to go check in the Shack,” Sirius said, “Before Prongsie here goes to meet Lil.”

Remus frowned, but he tried to push his concern out of his mind… after all, it wasn’t as though Wally could’ve left the grounds of the school. Probably he was up with Madam Pomfrey. So he grabbed an extra jumper - the old brown one with the patches on the sleeves - and the four of them headed down to go off to Hogsmeade.