69Title: A Kiss Like a Blade
Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling and associates own these characters. I am writing these characters for fun and not profit.
Content Notes: AU fifth year, violence, underage, present tense
Pairing: Harry/Theodore/Blaise, established Theodore/Blaise
Rated: R
Wordcount: This part 3400
Summary: AU of OoTP. Theo knows full well that Potter is doing something to teach Defense to other students—but Slytherins aren't invited. So Theo sets out to make sure that he and Blaise are included. And Potter's going to find out that no price is too high.
Author's Notes: This is one of my Litha to Lammas fics for this year, a series of fics being posted between the summer solstice and the first of August. This is in response to an anonymous request for a fic where Theo and Blaise find a way into Dumbledore's Army. It should have two parts.
A Kiss Like a Blade
Theo waits for Potter at the top of the staircase to the seventh floor. It's a good place to wait, in the center of an alcove with a tapestry hanging in front of it. Other students flood past him in ones and twos, chattering excitedly about the Patronus Charm.
Theo clenches his jaw. If they can learn that, then Potter is ten times the teacher Umbridge will ever be.
And Theo intends to have part of the action. For him and Blaise. The others don't matter. Draco is too content being Umbridge's toady, Pansy is too content to follow Draco, Crabbe and Goyle are too content not to think, Millicent's too content to only study Potions, and Daphne is too content to smile mysteriously at everybody and walk away.
Theo waits until Potter comes trailing along the corridor, and hisses, "Potter," beneath his breath, but in a way that makes Potter twist lightly on his feet towards Theo, his wand out.
"Who's there?" Weasley demands.
Theo doesn't waste time rolling his eyes. Weasley doesn't deserve even that much from him. He's such a non-entity that Theo doesn't understand how Draco hates him, much less how Potter puts up with him.
"I need to speak with you, Potter," Theo says, stepping out of his hiding place and staring at his target.
Potter narrows his eyes a little, and for a second, his hand twitches as if he's going to draw his wand. Theo turns to the left so that Potter can see Theo's wand is already drawn and held down low at his side.
Potter's desire to protect the weak and the innocent and the Mudbloods comes to the fore, as Theo was expecting, and he jerks his head a little at his friends. "Go on," he says. "Nott wants to talk to me so badly, he can do that."
Weasley starts to say something, but Granger puts a hand on his arm and nods to Potter. "We'll be just a shout away, Harry."
Theo conceals a sigh as Weasley and Granger retreat down the corridor. There are times, he can't deny that, when such steadfast allies would be useful, but Potter also holds himself to their level, instead of going on to see what he could win from the world without the drag of them by his side.
Perhaps some people would say that of Theo and Blaise, too, but Blaise is different.
"What did you want, Nott?"
Potter watches Theo with a half-lowered head, his scar sticking out from beneath his overly-enthusiastic fringe. Theo eyes him and wonders if this is really the best people in the school have to work with when it comes to Defense. But needs must, and no one else is doing anything.
"I know people are learning the Patronus Charm from you," Theo says. "Blaise and I want to learn, too."
"Not on a bet. Anything else?"
Theo blinks. He didn't think it would be easy to convince Potter, but neither did he think that he would just receive a flat refusal, with nothing that he could take and twist to put a hook in Potter's soul.
"Why not?"
"You'll betray us as soon as you get bored or see a greater advantage elsewhere, and I'm not here to let my friends get tortured by Umbridge. We have means to keep our meetings secret, but I don't think you and Zabini will agree to those, either."
That's a cleverer and more comprehensive answer than Theo expected from Potter, but he can't let it stand-for Blaise's sake, if not his own. He steps forwards. Potter doesn't move, and doesn't look intimidated. Theo wishes for a second that he was more like his father. No one dares cross Tyrannus Nott, and not all of that comes from his reputation as a former Death Eater.
"Blaise and I can provide compensation that would persuade you to take the chance," Theo says.
Potter laughs, a jagged sound that cuts off a second later. Theo blinks again. That's not the sort of response he thought he would receive, either.
"You don't know me very well if you think money would persuade me," Potter says, and shrugs. "And you can't give me information that's worth the price of exposing us all to danger."
This is becoming inconvenient, and Potter isn't wise enough to run when Theo thinks that word, the way Blaise is. Theo moves a step closer. "How can we assure you that we mean you no harm to you and yours?"
"Sign the secrecy agreement."
Theo frowns and shakes his head. He promised Blaise, when they became lovers, that he would protect Blaise from the sort of assaults on his free will that his uncles and aunts love to practice. A secrecy agreement isn't as bad as the Imperius Curse, but still bad enough that Theo won't ask Blaise to agree to it. "No."
"Then we're at an impasse," Potter says, and sneers, and starts to walk away.
The mere thought of Blaise failing his OWL in Defense is enough to make Theo grab Potter's arm. That doesn't go as he planned, either, which was to swing Potter around and pin him against the wall. Instead, Theo is the one who ends up there, with a wand to his throat and Potter's knee pressed against his groin in a way that communicates more clearly than words what Potter could do next.
"Keep your hands to-"
The last word might be yourself, but given that the word is in Parseltongue, Theo can't be sure. He blinks and stares at Potter. Potter stares back, not moving either his wand or his knee. Perhaps he wants some guarantee from Theo that he won't ask again.
Potter is wilder than Theo thought, more impatient, less compassionate. That eliminates some of the possibilities Theo planned on to make the idiot give him and Blaise what they want.
On the other hand, it opens a few more.
Theo leans back, widening his stance, spreading his legs. Potter moves with him, probably thinking that Theo is intent on making him fall. But when his knee rests, instead, against Theo's fully erect cock, Potter's eyes snap to Theo's face, and he stares, and stares.
"There are other deals we can come to," Theo murmurs, and touches his tongue to the corner of his lips. He doesn't know if he's doing this right. Blaise is the only person he's ever seduced, and Blaise was practically begging to be seduced.
"Seven-o'clock tomorrow, meet me on the third floor and find a private place from there," Potter says, and releases Theo.
Theo ends up staggering, off-balance. Potter turns around and walks away, without even a glance over his shoulder to see if Theo is going to agree.
Theo licks his lips, and watches Potter's arse. Maybe they can't come to an agreement that will be mutually satisfactory to all parties. But Theo wants to try.
"And you really don't mind?"
Blaise shakes his head and ends the Shield Charm that he's been keeping up for longer and longer periods now. Theo is proud of how good he's getting at it, but he's also gloomily convinced that Blaise will never get any better at it without Potter's help. Defense is useless this year.
Blaise turns around to face him, and Theo suddenly has a hard time catching his breath. Blaise looks spindly enough sometimes that a strong wind might blow him over, but the smile on his face now reminds Theo why they got together in the first place.
"No," Blaise says quietly. "I told you when we started dating that I don't need you exclusively. I just need you to remain in my bed and available to me even if you start dating someone else." He comes up to lay a hand on Theo's cheek. "And I can't see you abandoning me for Potter. He doesn't need you to protect him the way I need you."
"That's not the only reason I'm at your side," Theo argues, leaning forwards to kiss Blaise.
Blaise returns the kiss, hard and hot and with tongue and interest, then steps back and gestures around the abandoned classroom they do a lot of their magic practice, and practice at other things, in. "I know," he murmurs. "But it's part of it. And as long as I have a piece of you that Potter can never claim, I don't mind letting him in to the rest of it."
Theo doesn't know how he got so lucky, even with the threats to Blaise and the war that his father will eventually expect him to participate in and their absolute useless idiot of a Defense professor. He and Blaise complement each other perfectly, and that's really the most important thing, far more important than the sentimental love Pansy seems to want to have with Draco.
Theo would die for Blaise, and he knows the same is true.
Now, they just have to convince Potter that he would die to have what they can give him.
Potter doesn't flinch when Theo shuts the door behind them as they enter a classroom on the third floor that was abandoned after a flood damaged the walls (a flood of what, Theo doesn't think he wants to know). He just looks around, nods distantly, and turns to face Theo, unholstering his wand. "How many people did you bring to ambush me?" he asks, glancing at Blaise for a second. "Zabini doesn't count, since I can see him."
"None," Theo says. "We're here to make you an offer that will convince you to teach us the Patronus Charm."
Potter snorts. "You'd have better luck just ambushing me and getting it over with."
"I don't think that's true." Theo has spent some time considering what pitch his voice should have, and he moves forwards with a slight bow of his head when he sees Potter's eyes widening. "I think that you might be bored with the kinds of things your friends can offer you, and that none of the people who form your Defense club in particular can give you what you want."
"You think you can?" Potter's voice is a little hoarse. He clears his throat. "You even think you know?"
"I know that you've been lashing out more often this year," Theo says. He glances at Blaise, who nods and starts walking towards them from where he's been leaning against the ruin of a wooden desk. "And I know that when people are satisfied in bed, that rarely happens."
Potter opens his mouth to object, or maybe yell. Theo doesn't wait to see which it's going to be. He grabs Potter's shoulders and steers him in close, placing his open mouth across Potter's and flicking his tongue against those closed lips.
They open in what's probably just a shocked gasp. Again, Theo doesn't care. He presses in, and twines his tongue around Potter's with skill that's been spent mostly on Blaise but formed with other people before that.
Potter squirms, and Theo lets him go. This is either going to work, or it isn't. He waits, as still as he can be, pretending that his own blood isn't thrumming through his veins. Potter isn't a great kisser, but being so close to that wild blood and magic and living heat under his skin is...impressive.
Potter squints at Theo, and then at Blaise. He spends a moment apparently considering his own response. Then he says, "I'm not gay."
Theo mouths the word, and glances at Blaise. Blaise just shakes his head. "I mean, yes, of course you're not happy, with the press conducting a smear campaign against you," Theo begins, in a voice as soothing as he can make it.
Potter barks an incredulous laugh. "No, I mean gay, you idiot. As in-" He stops, looks back and forth between them, and then snorts. "Purebloods," he mutters, in the same tone that most people in Slytherin use "Mudbloods."
Theo bristles. "What does our blood status have to do with it?"
"Gay is a term for homosexual in the Muggle world," Potter says. "Preferring the same sex. I don't like boys, I like girls. And you don't need to gape at me as if I'm talking in Parseltongue right now."
Theo shuts his mouth, but he does shoot Blaise another bewildered look. He's pleased to see that Blaise doesn't look upset about the assumptions that Potter is making, but shares Theo's puzzlement. Theo shakes his head at Potter.
"There isn't-I mean, why should you have an exclusive preference?" Theo asks. "Just because I'm with Blaise doesn't mean I want to be with Draco, of all people." He shudders. Pansy is not going to be pleased if she does ever get what she's spent so much time angling for. "It doesn't mean that I would go from boy to boy looking for another partner. Maybe I would find a witch next, or maybe I would go a long time without someone. And someone who has a witch as a lover might have a wizard next. Or you might be with two or three people. Why do Muggles think that lots of people prefer to have just a man or a woman?"
Potter is staring at him as if Theo is the one who's being strange. "You really don't think that way," he says faintly. "But-all the people I've ever spent time with or talked to closely have two parents who are a married man and woman."
"Let's think about this, Potter," Blaise says, somewhat to Theo's surprise. It's rare that Blaise bothers to engage with anyone outside their own House. "You've spent time with Granger, and apparently things are different in the Muggle world. You've spent time with the Weasleys, and yes, they have a mother and father who have just one husband or wife. The Weasleys are somewhat known for just having one partner, and they usually choose someone who they can have children with easily because, well, they want a lot of children and they can't afford the more expensive potions that would let men have a child with men, or women with women. That's a peculiarity of their families, not of the whole pureblood world. Did you really decide that everyone was exactly the same as Muggles because of two examples?"
Potter snarls. "I grew up with Muggles, you fucker. Besides, there's my parents, too."
Theo is still suck on the first statement. "But you couldn't have," he says, even though he knows it sounds stupid.
"Why not?"
Potter's voice has grown soft, a danger sign this year, but yes, Theo does have to keep pursuing it and can't let it go. "Because you're so good at magic. You have a natural talent, Potter, which is why you can tutor people in the first place. You-you had to have grown up with a magical family, even if it's a minor or a half-blood one, not Muggles. You're joking."
Potter rolls his eyes. "Oh, yes, I made up a whole background for myself just to impress two Slytherins I've never spoken with before."
Well, there's that, Theo has to admit, as well as the fact that Potter isn't known for trying to impress people. He hides from reporters and gives sarcastic comments to the ones who do corner him. Theo glances at Blaise, and sees that his lover is wearing a considering expression.
"What if we could prove to you that it was worthwhile to tutor us?" Blaise asks.
"You won't sign the secrecy contract. Nott already said so."
"I won't sign something that restricts my free will," Blaise agrees, with a mildness that seems to work better on Potter than Theo thought it would. Blaise strolls a few steps in Potter's direction, his wand out of sight and his hands tucked behind his back. "But if we could keep your secrets and give you a place to let out something that you can't with your friends..."
"I told you. I'm not gay."
"I actually meant your temper, Potter."
Blaise's gentle mockery makes Potter flush. He darts a glance at Theo, who sees where Blaise is going and picks up the thread. "Yes, you can't strike back at the people you tutor, because they're your friends and presumably they wouldn't come back to learn from you if you expressed your anger. And striking out at Snape and Umbridge doesn't work. But us?"
"You wouldn't make good targets for the kind of spells I want to use."
"Why not?" Theo demands.
Potter curls his lip at him. "Because you can't defend yourselves well enough. I don't want to be labeled a murderer."
Theo arches an eyebrow. "An interesting idea. What about this, Potter? You teach us some defensive spells, and we show you some offensive ones. And then we can hold our shields against you as you try and curse us the way you're so obviously longing to curse someone."
Potter laughs a little. "So that means the offer of snogging and so on is off the table?"
"I wouldn't call it snogging," Blaise says. "I don't see why we have to call it anything at all. But kissing and wanking? Why not?"
Potter tilts his head to the side. "And what prevents someone from going to Umbridge and telling her about this?"
"The fact that I want to pass my exams," says Blaise. Potter seems to hear the passion behind his voice, and gives Blaise a curious glance. Theo doesn't; he knows all about the reason. Good marks are Blaise's ticket to a job in the Ministry or elsewhere that doesn't depend on his family and his family's connections. "And that I despise Umbridge with every corner of my being."
"You do? Why?"
Blaise sneers. "She decided that insults based on skin color are acceptable, as well as ones based on who might or might not have seen the Dark Lord resurrected."
Potter blinks a few times. Then he nods. "I suppose I should have assumed she would be terrible in all the ways she could, instead of only terrible to me." He touches the back of his hand and snorts bitterly. "Even if she's particularly terrible to me."
Blaise reaches out and captures Potter's right hand, turning it. "Are there words here?" he asks, voice so flat that Theo starts forwards in concern.
"Yeah. Umbridge and her fucking detentions and her Blood Quill."
Theo stares at Potter. Then he looks at Blaise. He's no longer as sure about involving Potter in their tutoring. Can someone who failed to protect himself from Umbridge to this extent really teach them to protect themselves?
But Blaise's face is shining in a particular way, and Theo realizes the battle is already lost. Blaise lifts Potter's hand to his lips and kisses the scar with a flickering touch of lips and tongue. Potter gasps, harder than he did when Theo kissed him, which makes Theo feel a little competitive.
"Then we can help you get revenge on her, too," Blaise states calmly, as if Theo agreed to this mad plan. "I think all our needs form an interlocking pattern that we can only strengthen by helping each other."
Theo thinks that might be a little strong, but Potter looks more inclined to trust them now. And his eyes are on Blaise's lips in a way that makes Theo think Potter might have forgotten about his strange Muggle terminology and ideas.
"If you betray me, I'll betray you," is what Potter says.
"Of course," Blaise says. Theo would have just looked the words, but Blaise is different. And he looks more alive and vital than he has since fifth year began and they found out they would have to deal not just with OWL's but a Defense professor who would teach them nothing. "In the meantime, why don't we enjoy ourselves?"
And he hauls Potter into a kiss.
Theo shakes his head, surprised but pleased by Blaise taking over in a turn of events Theo thought he was the instigator in, and moves forwards to join them.