Fic: Call Me Conrad (11/16)
Title: Call Me Conrad (part 11 of 16)
Fandoms: Buffy/Hollyoaks/Harry Potter
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Research and developments.
Willow couldn't help but worry a bit about the druids. A lot of them were barely older than she had been when she had first learned to do magic, and she could still remember what a thrill it had been. Casting spells had been seductive, promising to make her important enough that her classmates would have to pay attention to her. Granted they had Xander, and she trusted him... OK, no, she didn't trust him not to act like a kid in a candy store, and she didn't trust Andrew at all. Neither of them were going to stop the others doing something stupid.
Annoyingly, she wasn't sure whether what was happening out in the Ashworths' back garden was stupid or not. Four of the kids - Josh, Ste, John Paul and Craig - were out there trying to recreate the variation of the aura-seeing spell they had accidentally cast on Christmas Day. If it hadn't been such a simple ritual, the first one they had all learned, Willow would definitely have marched out there and insisted that they needed adult supervision. As it was she just sat there nervously watching through the french window to make sure they didn't try adding anything more potent than apple and sage.
"They shouldn't experiment so much," she fretted.
Beside her, Harry sighed. "As far as I understand it, they don't have much choice," he said. "It's not like anybody else knows how their magic works."
"Yes, but they still need supervision," Willow insisted. "They need someone with the experience to know whether the changes they make might be dangerous. It's not always obvious."
"Well, count me out," Harry told her. "I don't even understand what spell they're starting with, never mind what they're doing with it."
"It's just a simple aura-seeing spell." When Harry looked blankly at her, Willow continued, "You know, magical auras showing up different spells and emotions in different colours, that sort of thing?"
Harry shook his head slowly. "I guess wizards aren't very visual. There are plenty of spells for detecting all sorts of stuff, but you just know the answer when you cast one of them. There's no colours or guessing or anything like that."
"That sounds very mechanical," Willow commented. She could see the value of spells that gave you uncluttered, unambiguous answers, and there were times when she had really wanted more measurable results from her spells. Then again, there were times when the uncluttered, unambiguous answer was wrong. Plus, it seemed like wand magic was taking some of the fun out of it by insisting on knowing rather than feeling.
Harry sighed wistfully. "It's a simple spell for you?" he asked.
Willow nodded. "Tara - my first girlfriend - she didn't need a spell, she just saw auras naturally. These days it's one of the first spells we teach because it's so easy to show beginners what they're aiming for."
"How do you mean?"
"I developed a spell that let me share what I was seeing with other people, so they could see the auras too. That's how I taught it to Andrew."
Harry gave her a sideways look. "You did that without experimenting?" he asked pointedly.
It was Willow's turn to sigh. "It worked that time, but when it doesn't work, it really doesn't work. One time I made Giles blind, had Buffy and Spike planning their wedding and every demon in town wanted to be near Xander, all from one misunderstood spell."
"I see your point," Harry said reflectively. "I found a spell once that was just labelled 'For enemies,' and I didn't find out what it did until I used it. It nearly killed Malf- er, Conrad."
The kids outside chose that moment to stumble back in with a slightly unfocused look on their faces. Still seeing auras at least, Willow deduced, but probably nothing more. "Any joy?" she asked Josh, who had made a bee-line for the kettle with Ste.
"Not so much," Josh admitted cheerily. "Get the milk out, would you?" he asked John Paul and Craig, who were searching the fridge presumably for leftovers. Willow couldn't help but smirk; anyone who didn't know better would take one look at their smiles, their eyes and their serious case of the munchies and assume they were stoned.
Josh turned his slightly vague attention back to her as Ste rummaged in the cupboards for mugs. "Nothing's gone wrong exactly," he elaborated, "it's just every variation we try only gives us the basic vision. We even tried saying Grace, in case... What the heck is that?"
"What?" Harry asked nervously as four pairs of eyes turned to him.
"Your forehead," Josh said. He made to come closer but Ste put a protective hand on his shoulder.
"My scar?" Harry asked, putting a hand up to hide the spot on his forehead where his hair hung down. Willow looked on curiously; in the Cliff Notes version of this wizard war she'd been told, no one had mentioned Harry having a scar. That action had been automatic, though, and it suggested that Harry had been trying to hide his scar for so long he didn't think about what he was doing any more.
"There's something wrong about it," Ste said.
Harry sighed. "When V- I mean, when Tom tried to kill me when I was a baby, his spell rebounded and nearly killed him. It left a scar behind."
"It's not just a scar," Craig said.
"Curse scar," Harry agreed. "We think it left me connected to him. I sort of know when he's experiencing strong emotions."
"So it's part of you now?" Craig asked, frowning.
"No it's not," John Paul said. He stepped closer, staring intently at Harry's forehead. "I mean it's there, and it's definitely connected off somewhere, but it's not really part of you."
Harry looked stoic, which made Willow suspicious. What had he thought of that the druids were confirming, she wondered? She needed to look for herself, so she quickly cast the Sight. Fortunately she hadn't been exaggerating when she said it was an easy spell; all she needed now was an outstretched hand, the memory of the incense and Tara's perfume, and a near-wordless appeal to Gaea. She opened here eyes a second later to the familiar pastel world of auras.
Harry's aura pulsed with golden power, the magic that he didn't have to draw in from elsewhere. It was impressive, and Willow was a little jealous; while she could draw on a lot of power from gods, spirits or the earth around her, it wasn't her power. She always had to ask for it, and the power sources weren't always willing to let her have her way. No wonder Harry's sort of wizard had so much trouble with people going evil when there were no checks on what they could use magic for.
Hidden in the flare of Harry's power was another aura. It too glowed with power, but under that were the patterns of something alive and filled with hate and anger. Craig had been right to call it not just a scar, not when underneath it was something more like a person. Or part of a person.
"It's a horcrux," she said, feeling slightly sick.
"Oh," Josh said. He looked horrified. "It was after he'd killed your parents, wasn't it? He'd fulfilled all the conditions for the ritual."
Harry nodded. "I figured he must have done so much damage splitting his soul all those times, it must have just happened without him noticing."
"And when he tried to kill you," John Paul added, "it must have hit the horcrux and set up some kind of feedback loop. I almost feel sorry for it, being crippled as soon as it was created."
"I'd feel a lot more sympathetic if it wasn't inside me," Harry snapped.
"So what's your plan for getting rid of the littlest horcrux?" Willow asked before things could degenerate. She had been considering options, but the way the thing was so tightly bound to Harry made everything she could think of very chancy.
Harry gave her a sickly grin. "I die," he said.
"Like hell you do," Ste said angrily.
"What he said," Willow agreed. "I don't care how great and noble you think it is, that's not an acceptable solution, mister."
"But it works," Harry insisted dully. "If I die, then at least Tom can be killed."
"There has to be a way to shake it loose from you," Josh said. He and John Paul were close up now, Ste evidently having given up on making Josh keep his distance.
Harry shrugged. "I think Dumbledore was hinting at something when he gave us the story book, but..."
"The Three Gifts of Death?" Willow interrupted. She had gone digging after Conrad had reacted so badly to the idea of Riddle having the Elder Wand, and had found a version of the story in the Council's folklore section. There were possibilities in collecting all three gifts and becoming Death's Master, but it was so vague. "Wait, does that mean you have the other two?"
Harry looked sharply at her, then his shoulders slumped again. "It doesn't matter, Tom got to the Elder Wand first."
"Well we'll just have to get it off him for you," Willow said, reaching for her laptop. "In the mean time, I've got some research to do."
"No experimenting," Josh cautioned her cheekily.
******
"Maybe we need more people."
John Paul dutifully scribbled 'More people?' in his notepad at Craig's words. They were at that stage of throwing stupid ideas around the Ashworths' living room and seeing if anything stuck, at least partly because it was too dark and cold to be sitting out on the patio anymore. It was familiar, and yet not; John Paul hadn't really been round to the Ashworths' much since he had come out and stopped trying to be Hannah's boyfriend.
Willow and Harry had taken over the kitchen table with her research into his problem, and much as John Paul wanted to help it had quickly become clear that doing anything about the horcrux without killing Harry in the process was well beyond their current abilities. John Paul and Craig were both convinced that using the horcrux to find Voldemort would be easy, but they didn't need to know where he was right now and they certainly didn't want to tip him off. Particularly not once Willow got the phone call from her Council friends telling her that they were going to sneak into Harry's school tomorrow night.
That left the druids back with their original problem of replicating their accidental spell, which wasn't urgent or important but was at least something to do.
"More of us isn't going to help," Ste said. "We've already got twice as many druids as you had on Christmas Day, and all that's done is get us a solider version of the wrong thing."
"There were more other people involved," Josh mused. "Maybe that's significant?"
Rhys wandered in, sneered at them and wandered through to the kitchen. John Paul grimaced; he hadn't managed to figure out just what was going on there. Something was up with Rhys, of that much he was sure. Josh had dismissed it as Rhys not liking his and Ste's relationship, and Hannah thought it was to do with breaking up with his latest girlfriend. John Paul didn't believe the first explanation, and as for the second, Rhys wasn't exactly known for getting emotionally attached. The rest of the family didn't even know who the girl was, apparently.
"They were John Paul's family," Craig observed, "plus boyfriends."
"That figures," John Paul said, dragging his attention back to the discussion and making another note. "It is all about family and relationships."
"That's easy enough to check," Josh said. "Hey, Rhys, fancy trying out a druidic ritual? There's no sex involved, I promise."
Ste slapped his other half lightly on the head. "It's almost the same as the one Mr Wells showed us," he said as Rhys reappeared.
Rhys still didn't look convinced, so John Paul chipped in. "You heard about us discovering that I've got an older brother? Finding out was kind of an accident, and we're trying to repeat it. It's just something to see relationships; family, lovers, that sort of thing."
"No," Rhys said flatly, and turned for the kitchen again.
John Paul shared a look with Josh. He would have believed that Rhys was still sensitive about discovering that he was only Hannah and Josh's half brother-slash-cousin, except that Rhys had only flinched when he mentioned lovers.
"It's OK," Josh said lightly despite his frown. "I'm sure Beth and Gilly would be happy to help."
Rhys spun on his heel and stalked back into the living room. "Leave them out of this," he said, stabbing a finger at Josh. "I'm warning you. I can't stop you doing what you're doing, but I won't stand for you dragging the rest of this family into your freak show."
"Don't talk to him like that!" Harry was on his feet in an instant, his wand out and levelled at Rhys, and he looked furious.
John Paul stood too, trying to look as unthreatening as possible. "Hey, let's all just calm down here a minute," he said. Inwardly his mind was racing. How could he have missed love-'em-and-leave-'em Rhys Ashworth having a crush on his male best friend?
Josh was anything but calm. He stood, glared up and his big brother and spat out, "You lied. I asked you flat out if you were in love with Beth and you lied to me."
Oh, John Paul thought, Beth. Somehow he had got stuck on Gilly.
"I'm not... There's nothing..." Rhys tried to bluster, then seemed to collapse on himself. "It's not what you think, Josh."
"Really?" Josh said sternly. "Because from here it looks like my brother is carrying on with his half-sister behind his best friend's back."
"We aren't! We haven't touched each other since we found out we were related. It's just... she's funny, she's beautiful, she likes the same things I do... and she's my sister," Rhys finished sadly.
"And you still love her," John Paul said, sitting down heavily. Beth must have been the secret girlfriend, the one Hannah was convinced Rhys wasn't just in lust with for once. Now he couldn't be with her, and John Paul knew that pain all too well.
"Does Gilly know?" Craig asked. John Paul knew why, and couldn't help but wince. Gilly was in the position Craig had put Sarah in. Craig was probably feeling guilty again, especially since Sarah still couldn't bear to see the two of them together.
Rhys shook his head. "She likes him," he offered.
"But she loves you," Craig finished softly. John Paul found his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "You should tell him."
"He's my best friend," Rhys protested. "I don't want to hurt him."
"It'll hurt more the longer you leave it," Craig told him. "You know he'll find out eventually, somehow."
"Not if we fix it first," Josh said determinedly.
John Paul gave him a narrow look. "'Fix'?" he asked.
Josh waved his hand vaguely at Rhys. "Them. It's wrong."
Craig went still beside him, and John Paul had to keep a tight rein on his sudden anger. He didn't entirely succeed. "Do you know how many people told me I was 'wrong' when I came out?" he asked. "Do you have any idea how much grief you'll get for being gay when school start up again? Or how much more you'll get for choosing Ste?"
"Hey!" Ste protested.
"Leave him out of this," Josh said hotly. "I love him, and I'm not going to stop loving him just because people don't like it."
"And Rhys isn't going to stop loving Beth either," Craig said quietly. He sounded so sad that it clean cut John Paul's anger out from under him.
Josh looked torn. "But the Grove..." he began.
"May have screwed things up," John Paul agreed. "If it did, the feelings will probably fade now we've cleaned it up. If they don't, who are we to tell Rhys what he can and can't feel?"
"I still want to take a proper look," Josh said, tacitly conceding the point with obvious reluctance. "Just in case."
"Sounds sensible," John Paul allowed. "Maybe we should wait until they've squared things with Gilly, though. It's easier to deal with family crises one at a time."
Harry cleared his throat, then looked embarrassed as everyone's attention focused on him. "I guess I should apologise," he said. "My aunt and uncle, the people I live with, they hate magic. They've called me a freak my whole life for being a wizard, and... Well, I suppose I overreacted. Sorry."
Rhys smiled wanly at him. He didn't apologise in turn to Josh, but then that was Rhys, John Paul reflected. He was normally obnoxiously self-centred and opinionated. If he was thinking of anyone else as being as important as himself, if he genuinely was in love, then at least something good had come out of this.
Fandoms: Buffy/Hollyoaks/Harry Potter
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Research and developments.
Willow couldn't help but worry a bit about the druids. A lot of them were barely older than she had been when she had first learned to do magic, and she could still remember what a thrill it had been. Casting spells had been seductive, promising to make her important enough that her classmates would have to pay attention to her. Granted they had Xander, and she trusted him... OK, no, she didn't trust him not to act like a kid in a candy store, and she didn't trust Andrew at all. Neither of them were going to stop the others doing something stupid.
Annoyingly, she wasn't sure whether what was happening out in the Ashworths' back garden was stupid or not. Four of the kids - Josh, Ste, John Paul and Craig - were out there trying to recreate the variation of the aura-seeing spell they had accidentally cast on Christmas Day. If it hadn't been such a simple ritual, the first one they had all learned, Willow would definitely have marched out there and insisted that they needed adult supervision. As it was she just sat there nervously watching through the french window to make sure they didn't try adding anything more potent than apple and sage.
"They shouldn't experiment so much," she fretted.
Beside her, Harry sighed. "As far as I understand it, they don't have much choice," he said. "It's not like anybody else knows how their magic works."
"Yes, but they still need supervision," Willow insisted. "They need someone with the experience to know whether the changes they make might be dangerous. It's not always obvious."
"Well, count me out," Harry told her. "I don't even understand what spell they're starting with, never mind what they're doing with it."
"It's just a simple aura-seeing spell." When Harry looked blankly at her, Willow continued, "You know, magical auras showing up different spells and emotions in different colours, that sort of thing?"
Harry shook his head slowly. "I guess wizards aren't very visual. There are plenty of spells for detecting all sorts of stuff, but you just know the answer when you cast one of them. There's no colours or guessing or anything like that."
"That sounds very mechanical," Willow commented. She could see the value of spells that gave you uncluttered, unambiguous answers, and there were times when she had really wanted more measurable results from her spells. Then again, there were times when the uncluttered, unambiguous answer was wrong. Plus, it seemed like wand magic was taking some of the fun out of it by insisting on knowing rather than feeling.
Harry sighed wistfully. "It's a simple spell for you?" he asked.
Willow nodded. "Tara - my first girlfriend - she didn't need a spell, she just saw auras naturally. These days it's one of the first spells we teach because it's so easy to show beginners what they're aiming for."
"How do you mean?"
"I developed a spell that let me share what I was seeing with other people, so they could see the auras too. That's how I taught it to Andrew."
Harry gave her a sideways look. "You did that without experimenting?" he asked pointedly.
It was Willow's turn to sigh. "It worked that time, but when it doesn't work, it really doesn't work. One time I made Giles blind, had Buffy and Spike planning their wedding and every demon in town wanted to be near Xander, all from one misunderstood spell."
"I see your point," Harry said reflectively. "I found a spell once that was just labelled 'For enemies,' and I didn't find out what it did until I used it. It nearly killed Malf- er, Conrad."
The kids outside chose that moment to stumble back in with a slightly unfocused look on their faces. Still seeing auras at least, Willow deduced, but probably nothing more. "Any joy?" she asked Josh, who had made a bee-line for the kettle with Ste.
"Not so much," Josh admitted cheerily. "Get the milk out, would you?" he asked John Paul and Craig, who were searching the fridge presumably for leftovers. Willow couldn't help but smirk; anyone who didn't know better would take one look at their smiles, their eyes and their serious case of the munchies and assume they were stoned.
Josh turned his slightly vague attention back to her as Ste rummaged in the cupboards for mugs. "Nothing's gone wrong exactly," he elaborated, "it's just every variation we try only gives us the basic vision. We even tried saying Grace, in case... What the heck is that?"
"What?" Harry asked nervously as four pairs of eyes turned to him.
"Your forehead," Josh said. He made to come closer but Ste put a protective hand on his shoulder.
"My scar?" Harry asked, putting a hand up to hide the spot on his forehead where his hair hung down. Willow looked on curiously; in the Cliff Notes version of this wizard war she'd been told, no one had mentioned Harry having a scar. That action had been automatic, though, and it suggested that Harry had been trying to hide his scar for so long he didn't think about what he was doing any more.
"There's something wrong about it," Ste said.
Harry sighed. "When V- I mean, when Tom tried to kill me when I was a baby, his spell rebounded and nearly killed him. It left a scar behind."
"It's not just a scar," Craig said.
"Curse scar," Harry agreed. "We think it left me connected to him. I sort of know when he's experiencing strong emotions."
"So it's part of you now?" Craig asked, frowning.
"No it's not," John Paul said. He stepped closer, staring intently at Harry's forehead. "I mean it's there, and it's definitely connected off somewhere, but it's not really part of you."
Harry looked stoic, which made Willow suspicious. What had he thought of that the druids were confirming, she wondered? She needed to look for herself, so she quickly cast the Sight. Fortunately she hadn't been exaggerating when she said it was an easy spell; all she needed now was an outstretched hand, the memory of the incense and Tara's perfume, and a near-wordless appeal to Gaea. She opened here eyes a second later to the familiar pastel world of auras.
Harry's aura pulsed with golden power, the magic that he didn't have to draw in from elsewhere. It was impressive, and Willow was a little jealous; while she could draw on a lot of power from gods, spirits or the earth around her, it wasn't her power. She always had to ask for it, and the power sources weren't always willing to let her have her way. No wonder Harry's sort of wizard had so much trouble with people going evil when there were no checks on what they could use magic for.
Hidden in the flare of Harry's power was another aura. It too glowed with power, but under that were the patterns of something alive and filled with hate and anger. Craig had been right to call it not just a scar, not when underneath it was something more like a person. Or part of a person.
"It's a horcrux," she said, feeling slightly sick.
"Oh," Josh said. He looked horrified. "It was after he'd killed your parents, wasn't it? He'd fulfilled all the conditions for the ritual."
Harry nodded. "I figured he must have done so much damage splitting his soul all those times, it must have just happened without him noticing."
"And when he tried to kill you," John Paul added, "it must have hit the horcrux and set up some kind of feedback loop. I almost feel sorry for it, being crippled as soon as it was created."
"I'd feel a lot more sympathetic if it wasn't inside me," Harry snapped.
"So what's your plan for getting rid of the littlest horcrux?" Willow asked before things could degenerate. She had been considering options, but the way the thing was so tightly bound to Harry made everything she could think of very chancy.
Harry gave her a sickly grin. "I die," he said.
"Like hell you do," Ste said angrily.
"What he said," Willow agreed. "I don't care how great and noble you think it is, that's not an acceptable solution, mister."
"But it works," Harry insisted dully. "If I die, then at least Tom can be killed."
"There has to be a way to shake it loose from you," Josh said. He and John Paul were close up now, Ste evidently having given up on making Josh keep his distance.
Harry shrugged. "I think Dumbledore was hinting at something when he gave us the story book, but..."
"The Three Gifts of Death?" Willow interrupted. She had gone digging after Conrad had reacted so badly to the idea of Riddle having the Elder Wand, and had found a version of the story in the Council's folklore section. There were possibilities in collecting all three gifts and becoming Death's Master, but it was so vague. "Wait, does that mean you have the other two?"
Harry looked sharply at her, then his shoulders slumped again. "It doesn't matter, Tom got to the Elder Wand first."
"Well we'll just have to get it off him for you," Willow said, reaching for her laptop. "In the mean time, I've got some research to do."
"No experimenting," Josh cautioned her cheekily.
******
"Maybe we need more people."
John Paul dutifully scribbled 'More people?' in his notepad at Craig's words. They were at that stage of throwing stupid ideas around the Ashworths' living room and seeing if anything stuck, at least partly because it was too dark and cold to be sitting out on the patio anymore. It was familiar, and yet not; John Paul hadn't really been round to the Ashworths' much since he had come out and stopped trying to be Hannah's boyfriend.
Willow and Harry had taken over the kitchen table with her research into his problem, and much as John Paul wanted to help it had quickly become clear that doing anything about the horcrux without killing Harry in the process was well beyond their current abilities. John Paul and Craig were both convinced that using the horcrux to find Voldemort would be easy, but they didn't need to know where he was right now and they certainly didn't want to tip him off. Particularly not once Willow got the phone call from her Council friends telling her that they were going to sneak into Harry's school tomorrow night.
That left the druids back with their original problem of replicating their accidental spell, which wasn't urgent or important but was at least something to do.
"More of us isn't going to help," Ste said. "We've already got twice as many druids as you had on Christmas Day, and all that's done is get us a solider version of the wrong thing."
"There were more other people involved," Josh mused. "Maybe that's significant?"
Rhys wandered in, sneered at them and wandered through to the kitchen. John Paul grimaced; he hadn't managed to figure out just what was going on there. Something was up with Rhys, of that much he was sure. Josh had dismissed it as Rhys not liking his and Ste's relationship, and Hannah thought it was to do with breaking up with his latest girlfriend. John Paul didn't believe the first explanation, and as for the second, Rhys wasn't exactly known for getting emotionally attached. The rest of the family didn't even know who the girl was, apparently.
"They were John Paul's family," Craig observed, "plus boyfriends."
"That figures," John Paul said, dragging his attention back to the discussion and making another note. "It is all about family and relationships."
"That's easy enough to check," Josh said. "Hey, Rhys, fancy trying out a druidic ritual? There's no sex involved, I promise."
Ste slapped his other half lightly on the head. "It's almost the same as the one Mr Wells showed us," he said as Rhys reappeared.
Rhys still didn't look convinced, so John Paul chipped in. "You heard about us discovering that I've got an older brother? Finding out was kind of an accident, and we're trying to repeat it. It's just something to see relationships; family, lovers, that sort of thing."
"No," Rhys said flatly, and turned for the kitchen again.
John Paul shared a look with Josh. He would have believed that Rhys was still sensitive about discovering that he was only Hannah and Josh's half brother-slash-cousin, except that Rhys had only flinched when he mentioned lovers.
"It's OK," Josh said lightly despite his frown. "I'm sure Beth and Gilly would be happy to help."
Rhys spun on his heel and stalked back into the living room. "Leave them out of this," he said, stabbing a finger at Josh. "I'm warning you. I can't stop you doing what you're doing, but I won't stand for you dragging the rest of this family into your freak show."
"Don't talk to him like that!" Harry was on his feet in an instant, his wand out and levelled at Rhys, and he looked furious.
John Paul stood too, trying to look as unthreatening as possible. "Hey, let's all just calm down here a minute," he said. Inwardly his mind was racing. How could he have missed love-'em-and-leave-'em Rhys Ashworth having a crush on his male best friend?
Josh was anything but calm. He stood, glared up and his big brother and spat out, "You lied. I asked you flat out if you were in love with Beth and you lied to me."
Oh, John Paul thought, Beth. Somehow he had got stuck on Gilly.
"I'm not... There's nothing..." Rhys tried to bluster, then seemed to collapse on himself. "It's not what you think, Josh."
"Really?" Josh said sternly. "Because from here it looks like my brother is carrying on with his half-sister behind his best friend's back."
"We aren't! We haven't touched each other since we found out we were related. It's just... she's funny, she's beautiful, she likes the same things I do... and she's my sister," Rhys finished sadly.
"And you still love her," John Paul said, sitting down heavily. Beth must have been the secret girlfriend, the one Hannah was convinced Rhys wasn't just in lust with for once. Now he couldn't be with her, and John Paul knew that pain all too well.
"Does Gilly know?" Craig asked. John Paul knew why, and couldn't help but wince. Gilly was in the position Craig had put Sarah in. Craig was probably feeling guilty again, especially since Sarah still couldn't bear to see the two of them together.
Rhys shook his head. "She likes him," he offered.
"But she loves you," Craig finished softly. John Paul found his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "You should tell him."
"He's my best friend," Rhys protested. "I don't want to hurt him."
"It'll hurt more the longer you leave it," Craig told him. "You know he'll find out eventually, somehow."
"Not if we fix it first," Josh said determinedly.
John Paul gave him a narrow look. "'Fix'?" he asked.
Josh waved his hand vaguely at Rhys. "Them. It's wrong."
Craig went still beside him, and John Paul had to keep a tight rein on his sudden anger. He didn't entirely succeed. "Do you know how many people told me I was 'wrong' when I came out?" he asked. "Do you have any idea how much grief you'll get for being gay when school start up again? Or how much more you'll get for choosing Ste?"
"Hey!" Ste protested.
"Leave him out of this," Josh said hotly. "I love him, and I'm not going to stop loving him just because people don't like it."
"And Rhys isn't going to stop loving Beth either," Craig said quietly. He sounded so sad that it clean cut John Paul's anger out from under him.
Josh looked torn. "But the Grove..." he began.
"May have screwed things up," John Paul agreed. "If it did, the feelings will probably fade now we've cleaned it up. If they don't, who are we to tell Rhys what he can and can't feel?"
"I still want to take a proper look," Josh said, tacitly conceding the point with obvious reluctance. "Just in case."
"Sounds sensible," John Paul allowed. "Maybe we should wait until they've squared things with Gilly, though. It's easier to deal with family crises one at a time."
Harry cleared his throat, then looked embarrassed as everyone's attention focused on him. "I guess I should apologise," he said. "My aunt and uncle, the people I live with, they hate magic. They've called me a freak my whole life for being a wizard, and... Well, I suppose I overreacted. Sorry."
Rhys smiled wanly at him. He didn't apologise in turn to Josh, but then that was Rhys, John Paul reflected. He was normally obnoxiously self-centred and opinionated. If he was thinking of anyone else as being as important as himself, if he genuinely was in love, then at least something good had come out of this.