Everybody Wants to Rule the World: 2/3
It was late one night, dark and rainy and fucking depressing, when Teddy came into Dominatus's office with murder in his eyes.
He had just come back from Manchester, after standing out in the rain for hours, waiting for this supposed customer who would be coming via Portkey down from Finland, intent on buying out two crates of dreams to get the people of Helsinki onto the new craze. This meant wonders for the workers back at Newt, more money flooded in, maybe even some new employees, a new office, cleaner floors, a better security system.
It would have been a breakthrough; if the bastards had shown.
Teddy was dripping all over Dominatus's carpeted floor, but he didn't give a damn about that. He was pissed. He didn't want to keep doing this, running around like a second-rate employee in the company he had created. There wouldn't have been anything if he hadn't taken Benny's half-arsed idea and turned it into something pure, strong, able to withstand the odds. And what right did Dominatus have in taking that away?
"I'm sick and fucking tired of dealing," he said clearly, anger wafting off his words. "I'm not your fucking dog so stop treating me like one."
Dominatus barely batted an eyelash, looking up at Teddy from his desk with nothing more than open curiousity in his eyes.
"The deal didn't go well I take it?"
Teddy's hand clenched and he could feel his hair darken, "No, you bastard it didn't fucking go well."
Teddy couldn't remember the last time he had sworn so much, the last time his hair had turned that shade of black.
Dominatus stood, his eyes on Teddy, quiet but wild anger in his eyes, "What did you just say?" he asked in a whisper.
"I said, you complete bastard, that I'm fucki-"
Suddenly Teddy was at the wall, held up by an invisible spell. He groaned as his head hit the stone of the wall. Dominatus came to stand in front of him, his eyes burning.
"Listen to me you ungrateful, domestic fuck." He spoke almost casually, wand out, hand moving into Teddy's hair. "You ever say that to me again and I'll kill you so fast you won't have time to scream. Got that?"
He yanked Teddy's hair hard, throwing his head back to the wall. Teddy yelped, his vision going spotty, his head pounding, "Leave me alone you-"
"I said," Dominatus whispered, frighteningly close to Teddy's ear. "Do you got that?"
Teddy whimpered, closing his eyes.
"You're weak, spineless." Dominatus kept going, taking him down word by word. "You think you're so superior to those addicts running on the street but really you're worst then them. You think I didn't notice the missing vials? You think I couldn't tell when you would drink it before coming in to see me?"
He turned Teddy around in a flash, pinning his chest to the wall as he reached around, unbuttoning his trousers, "I'm the only chance you've got, Mr. Lupin so you'd better stay on my side or you can say goodbye to your little sidekick."
He pushed Teddy's trousers down, then his pants, biting down hard on his shoulder. Teddy breathed heavily against the wall.
"You're mine you little fuck." Dominatus barely spit on his prick before shoving it in between Teddy's arse cheeks, and up into his body. Teddy cried out in pain, "I've got you and there isn't a thing you can do about it."
Dominatus pushed into Teddy again and again, harder and harder. He fucked him into the wall without a care in his mind, Teddy's shoulders hitting the cold stone with every upstroke, unable to protect himself against Dominatus's slaughter.
Dominatus pulled out long enough to come all over Teddy's arse, making the semen drip down his legs, making Teddy feel dirty all over. His fingernails closed around the back of Teddy's neck as he panted in his ear.
"Now," he said, voice sickly sweet. "you come over and sit on my lap. I've got a present for you."
He left him then. Teddy, eyes still closed, turned around. He opened them to see Dominatus, sitting on his office chair, a vial full of golden liquid in his hand.
He didn't have a choice. He went over, sat on Dominatus's lap and begged for it.
-.-
"For the love of Merlin's saggy pants, Harry - this is the third one this week." A hushed voice carried down the hall from James, as he came out of the Auror offices one night, laden down with papers.
He heard his father's voice next, clear and proud even in hiss, "I get that Ron, I really- do you know who you're talking to?" Harry sighed.
James's heart throbbed uncomfortably as he swallowed his fear, walking down the corridor towards them. His black dress shoes barely echoed. Uncle Ron was leaning against one wall, hand running through his deep, red hair, while Harry tapped his feet in front of him.
"C'mon Harry," Ron mumbled, lifting his head higher. "We need to put a team together at least. Check it out. We know something's up and we've gone on less than that before."
"We can't afford to take any of my guys off the Harrington case. We know there's a killer there. And that'll only leave trainees anyway so-"
"Hell, I think one would do it. Considering right now we're doing shit all to figure things out-"
"Excuse me, Auror Weasley." James stood perfectly still, perfectly straight, holding out two different files for his uncle. "These are reports from last month's Jensen case."
Ron's blue eye's immediately filled with the same mix of sympathy and sadness that they did every time he saw James. Harry on the other hand, did not look at his son at all.
"Thank you Potter," Ron said gruffly.
"You're welcome." James turned, as if to leave, and then stopped - slowly pivoting until he was facing the Senior Auror again.
"Y'know, sir, I was recently interrogating someone for a death that had something to do with drug overdose." Ron nodded quickly pressing him to continue. "Anyways, the man - Tony Anderson, he was a good friend of a good friend of mine: Scorpius Malfoy-"
"James, we can't exactly take information from a Malfoy. Sorry."
Immediately understanding his mistake, and fuck why did he say that?, James changed his tactics, "No, you see - he gave me this address for a store in Knockturn where Tony apparently got all his stuff from."
"And you want to know if you can go there." This time it was Harry, speaking directly to his son for the first time in months.
James leveled his father with a look, trying to look brave but probably looking just like he did when he was five, hurt after falling off his broom or caught making a fort under his father's big Auror desk or being lectured after throwing crayons at Albus.
"Yes sir." That's right James, head back, eyes straight ahead, Merlin he's getting grey in his hair, don't look at it James, you're strong.
It was silent for a while, as all three men tried to-
"You can do it." Ron said suddenly, clapping James on the shoulder. "Grab Jennings. She'll be on maternity in a couple weeks, but you can use her for now. By then we'll have the Harrington case done. Hopefully."
James grinned, ihis first case/i. "Thank you sir, Head Auror." He nodded at both of them.
Harry immediately took off down the hall, brandishing his arm slightly, gesturing for Ron to follow him. Ron turned to go but then turned back to James. He leaned in to his ear and whispered,
"You'll do great Jamie."
-.-
They were sitting in the room above Newt one night, drinking Firewhiskys back while going through their money, when Dominatus said it.
"You know Ted, you really ought to drop that job of yours. It's interfering with business."
Teddy looked up, surprised at first, but then not really. Hadn't he been thinking that for months now? Drop the job, work on the trafficking full time?
"I'm not sure," Teddy took a swipe at his drink and wiped his mouth. "Right now it's the only alibi I have. I mean, I live with an Auror for Merlin's sake, and he's starting to get suspicious."
"Right, right." Dominatus looked away from Teddy, pushing all the gold galleons into one of the many bags he carried around, tying the drawstring up at the top. "I understand completely."
But there was something in his tone.
"What is it?"
"Well Teddy, I get that you're trying to make ends meet here, but I have a question." Dominatus pierced him with his grey stare and Teddy started, twirling left leg nervously under the table and pressing his fingers to his mouth - a nervous action he'd kept from childhood.
"Do you really want this?"
"What do you mean?" Teddy asked slowly, trying to find some clues in his employer's eyes.
"I don't think you want this bad enough. You should be on your hands and knees, begging for an opportunity like this and yet… Think logically Teddy, I know you can do it," he had a mocking smile now, eyes burning into Teddy's, "You don't need your job. Hell - we've set up a system here, right now, that bottles dreams a hell of a lot faster and better than how you're doing at the Ministry. We don't need you bringing in stuff anymore. We've got our tools. And we'd be doubling the profit with you working here every night. So why do you make excuses?"
"Like I said… my boyfriend is an Auror and he's already-"
In a flash he felt sharp pointed fingernails over his heart and Dominatus's hand clutched him closer, harsh breath whispering in his ear. Fear flooded him and he wished, not for the first time, that there was something else running through his mind; the magic liquid that would help him think his way out.
"You want it. I know you do. So do it. Go."
Teddy took a deep, shuttering breath and nodded slowly, closing his eyes.
"Okay." He said, signing his life away as Dominatus's fingers tightened. "Okay, I will."
-.-
James Potter was used to Scorpius's crazy ideas. When they were at school he constantly tried to make James mad, pulling pranks on the Hufflepuffs and the teachers, but mostly just Albus. They had become friends when James was in fourth year, the year he decided his parents were horrible and he wanted nothing more than to piss them off. That faze ended eventually, but his friendship with the young Pureblood heir never did.
"Seriously James, you have to take the potion."
James sighed, "Scorp, I'm an Auror, I think I can figure out another way to-"
"No. Polyjuice is the only way. You've got to be someone they recognize, but not someone they've seen a lot of time. You have to look druggie, but not too bad, otherwise they won't believe you when you want to look around."
James was disbelieving, "How the fuck do you know all this?"
"Please think back to the party in fifth year," Scorpius said rolling his eyes. "Now who brought all the Gillyweed?"
James nodded, looking around at the park they were sitting in. Scorpius said it would be their safest place, but James wasn't too sure. He found it strange that they could talk about drugs and schemes so close to little kids playing on swings. It wasn't right. "Okay. Fine. Who's hair?"
Scorpius's smile faded a little, and he coughed, "Tony's. He was a vain guy, always had a comb. Left one at my house before he… you know."
James watched as Scorpius looked straight ahead. He hesitantly brought an arm around Scorpius's shoulders, hand playing with his slightly-too-long hair.
"Hey, man if this is too hard for you we can think of something else-"
Scorpius turned around wildly, looking at him like he was crazy. "Are you kidding me? The whole reason I'm doing this in the first place is so that no one else has to lose someone like I did. Okay? We're not giving up just cause it's," he rolled his eyes, "hard."
James smiled. That right there was what he loved about Scorpius Malfoy. No bullshit. "Alright," he said softly, giving him a quick little shake on the arm. "What now?"
"Now," his partner said, a feral grin starting up on his face, "We make shit happen." He looked over at James and winked. "Give me your arm."
"Now Scrop, you know I'm with Teddy-"
"Never bothered me before." James laughed and grabbed his friend's arm.
Scorpius turned and they Disapparated.
James felt his feet hit the pavement and stumbled to regain upright. Next to him Scorpius was wobbling, taking in the alley. James did the same.
It was cold, rather dank actually, with a permanent smell - a cross between cigarette smoke and piss. There were large puddles between the cobblestone walkways, butts lying across them as well, a pile of old cauldrons in the corner of the alley, broken apple cores, large rats scurried past their feet. Both men regarded the place with sharp eyes, but neither had a look of disgust on his face. James had been there during training and Scorpius's father had many a business opportunity go down in the same dark alleys.
James quickly unscrewed the stopper to his flask full of Polyjuice and downed the silver, slightly murky liquid. He heaved over, hands on his face as it became to bumble and brew into something completely different then the light eyes, dark freckles and thin lips he knew.
He was shorter by a little, but had a wider chest, so his robes were a little tight. His face seemed longer, his nose shorter, his ears roughly the same.
Scorpius gasped behind him. James turned to see him looking at him, his eyes too bright.
"Tone…" Scorpius said, swallowing lightly. "God, you look just like Tony."
James felt horrible, "Look, Scorp, I can-"
"No!" he yelled into the night, grabbing James by the arm. "We have to go. Quickly, before it's dawn. C'mon!"
They stumbled down the alley and out onto the street. There was glass on the edges of the cobblestone, dark store windows covered in drapes. They walked quickly past the people on the sidewalk, resembling moving piles of fabric better than human beings. Scorpius's hand on James's wrist was a constant reminder to him that what he was experiencing was not a dream. He couldn't wake up from any of it. The people on the streets on Knockturn Alley truly were as badly off as everyone said they were.
"We're going to get this guy," James whispered in Scorpius's ear. "No one deserves to live like this."
"You've got that right."
They passed a pub, loud, raucous yells coming from the interior. As James watched a man went shooting through the glass window on a broom, cackling madly.
Scorpius stopped suddenly, at the opening to yet another dark, dreary passageway. James nearly fell into him, but caught himself at the last moment. He watched his companion's eyes as it took in the alley, sweeping along past the rats.
"C'mon." Scorpius said hesitantly, nudging James in with him as he took off down the walk. "This is where we went last time."
James followed him, trying to regain some of the knowledge he had learned in Auror School. Of course, he thought, the first thing he should have done was call for backup. The next would be to wait for that backup. They always told you, three times a day, to never go anywhere by yourself.
Well, thought James to himself again as he listened to his steps echo in the alley. technically I'm not all alone. I've got Scorpius.
There was a light, at the end, coming from a streetlight that looked like it had been through one too many Knockturn days. Under it stood two men. As Scorpius and James came towards them the shorter man ran off, scampering into the shadows with what looked like a glass vial in his hands.
"That's the last one, I swear Arty! Don't come back!" the other man yelled, turning towards them. "What the fuck you after then?"
The man was tall, taller than Scorpius and James, even James without his Tony disguise. He had a large nose, big green eyes and a scowling, dark little mouth. His hair, wild and curly, was blue.
Scorpius began, "Hey, we've got some stuff here before and we were wondering-"
"Yeah, yeah. I remember you." The man took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it quickly with his wand. "Fortnight ago?Surprised you came back actually. I gave you some shit stuff."
Scorpius coughed, so James continued, "Yeh. We were wondering if-"
"No," the stranger smiled a strange smile, "you don't get any deals just because you've been here before. Sorry, but the price is still the same." He blew smoke in James's face. "So what'll it be then?"
The man was starting to piss James off. He started again, "We were wondering," he said, eyes narrowing, "If there was anyway we could get inside the place tonight." He hooked his head to the door behind the man, where a small Newt getting his head chopped off was painted, "We'd like to look around."
The stranger's eyes narrowed, making them look black. His hand trembled as he took the cigarette from his mouth and dropped it under his foot, stamping it out.
"Sorry," he said, not sounding very sorry at all. "No visitors allowed tonight."
"But-"
The man stepped into James, grabbing him by his robes. "You've got two options. Buy some. Or leave. You choose."
The man's breath wafted in his face. James was about to throw a punch or something, but Scorpius grabbed his arm, pulling him back.
"Let's get out of here Tony," he said, a bit gruffly. "We'll try another time."
-.-
"Teddy fucking Lupin!" Denver laughed as the group walked down to their favourite pub, a ten minute walk away from their office. "How does it feel man?"
"How does what feel?" Teddy asked, a slight smile on his face. He had taken a dream ten minutes before they had run to go out and celebrate his last day. He was okay.
"You never have to go back to that shithole again!" Stan shouted, grabbing him round the neck and pushing him through the door of the pub.
"Our office?" Teddy looked around at the place; the bar that had once seemed taunting and foreign to him was now like a princess's castle. It was just so… clean.
"The Ministry!" laughed Danny, and they all joined along with him. Benny went to go fetch them some drinks as Stan steered Teddy towards a booth seat. He sat there, watching his old friends around him as they exchanged stories, laughing about stupid mistakes at works and problems at home.
Teddy glanced around at them all as they sipped their beers and laughed, and felt as if he was sitting with a bunch of strangers. They weren't compatible to him anymore, not any of them. He was danger, dirt, homeless addiction and undercover identity. He was illegal, filthy, in the middle of an affair. He was on a different planet then the men around him.
He excused himself to the bathroom. He left through the front door. He Apparated back into Newt.
Teddy could already see Arty outside the door, begging the bouncer to let him in. There were a couple of French dealers in the corner, comparing lists to the crates in front of them. Above him he could hear the gentle hum of the dream sorting machine.
And just around the corner, he walked towards it, was Dominatus's office, grand and wonderful, where the man would be waiting his return, ready with a pat on the head and a hand up his shirt, because Dominatus understood him, understood the way he was now, the way he would be forever.
Teddy took a deep breath before pushing the door open.
This was his home.
-.-
Barb's Magic Salon, located just off Yonge Street, was one of the prominent hairdressers in Toronto. Barb Kokorev, the owned, was a Ukrainian woman who had come over in the early 2000s as a teenager. She had stepped into Pearson Airport with light luggage in hand and was immediately taken by the city.
Year later, following a name change from Olva to Barb (after her favourite Broadway singer), she now owned a successful salon, managed a husband and two children, and sang every Sunday in church.
Underneath the 1950's styled tile floor of her salon, the swinging chairs and tinseled windows there was a dimly lit cellar. It housed boxes with broken hair equipment, straightners, curling irons, crimpers and more. The other boxes, more broken down, held bells and bows and Christmas trees.
It was here that Barb's daughter, Emma, practiced with her band. They were called the Toronto Pigeons and had a bit of a buzz going, especially around the suburban indie-teens in the outskirts of the city.
The most memorable of all the shows was one that happened on January 18th, 2027. It was the second major gig they ever got, opening for Durmstrang Rats: a band from somewhere in Russia. They played at The Docks.
After the show they came together at Emma's cellar, her parents having won tickets to go see Broadways' comeback Billy Elliot on the radio. The Rats went with them downstairs, with their funny accents, clutching thick scarves against the snowy Canadian winter - so similar to the frozen tundra they grew up in.
Emma and her friend Ken had some crack saved from a New Year's party, and we're just about ready to delve into it, when the drummer from the Rats laughed heartily at them.
He pulled out a vial, a pretty glass one with some strange markings on it, from his coat pocket. He explained, in broken Pidgin English, that he had gotten it in Moscow, just before they departed off the -and he stumbled particularly hard at this word- plane. Apparently it was all the rage in England, or so said the man he'd bought it from.
Emma, never one to give up a challenge, poured the vial into her new bottle of Absolute and shook it up. They passed it around for the rest of the night, laughed and choking and all commenting on the weird fucking zebras that were dancing before their eyes. Ken, in his half state of mind couldn't quite believe it - how exactly did they all see the same thing?
The next day the Russians were gone but the buzz wasn't.
The Toronto Pidgeons spent the rest of the month searching for something like the magic they had tasted that night. Eventually, on a cold, frigid day in February they found a dealer, knee deep in snow on Bloor Street, exchanging money for vials. He took their paper money with a sad smile and a nod.
As Emma held her vial in victory, a great smile stretching across her face, she saw the symbols on the ornate glass. There was a large D with a tiny little T inside it, so small it looked as if the D had engulfed it whole.
-.-
He saw James through the window, waiting at their usual Sunday night table, drumming his fingers on the sugar packets in front of him.
Teddy smoothed his hair down, checking briefly to make sure his clothes didn't look dirty or ruffled or smudged. It was now daily practice for Dominatus to push him up against a brick wall and whisper business suggestions while he pounded ruthlessly into Teddy.
Teddy wished desperately that he had taken a vial before he left Knockturn. His stomach was gnawing on itself and the headache he had was throbbing in his head.
He sniffed once to make sure he didn't smell homeless before pushing the door and walking inside the little diner. The lights were low, subtle, and didn't make his hair flash up like gold - kept the brown tresses brown as a tree stump. The waitress led him to his seat, recognizing him easily from the mountains of Sundays he'd come there.
James didn't even look up as he sat down, choosing instead to read the menu that had been memorized months ago. Teddy was about to apologize, grovel and make excuses, but something in him made him stop. His mind caught up with his tongue and caught the mood of the table.
James wasn't angry. James was hurt.
That knowledge was like a spike of nitrates to his poor, power hungry insides. The comment fell dead on Teddy's lips and instead he waved at a passing waiter, ordering the fish and chips covered in vinegar for himself while ordering James the pea and hambone soup, bread on the side, and two cups of Orange Pekoe for both of them, please?
Silence fell as the waiter departed, both men trying to avoid looking at the other. It was painfully awkward, something the two of them almost never were. Teddy broke it after a minute.
"I was shopping in Diagon and lost track of time."
James remained silent. Teddy nudged his toe against James's leg and the other man moved it. Brows furrowed, he tried again,
"It's really not too hard to believe James. Besides, I'm only…" he checked his watch and saw the minute hand resting near the ten. Shit. Fourty-five after? He would have been angry too.
"Look, you know as well as I do that they've no clocks in Blotts and Flourish." Please recognize it, thought Teddy. C'mon it's our thing, always been our thing to say it like that. Please.
Teddy hated pleading, even if it was only internally. Having seen no change in James's demeanor, not even a quick-smile-dimple appearing, he changed tactics,
"Merlin James, what the fuck do you want me to say?"
James looked up at him, hurt shining proudly in his brown depths, "How about sorry?"
"What?"
"I said," James's quiet voice grew stronger, "why don't you say sorry?"
"Christ, I'm sorry. Merlin, you know I'd never do anything to hurt you." Mostly. "I just lost track of time, honest."
James nodded, skeptically, but happy with the answer. Teddy on the other hand tried to ignore the guilt, gnawing at his insides.
"So… Diagon then?" James asked, making a pyramid out of sugar packets that Teddy loved to knock over, seeing the look of mock horror on his face. "What book were you looking for?"
It barely took Teddy a second to answer, getting as used to lying as one could be, it came to him easily now, "This weird hardcover on the differences between Muggle philosophy of dreams and the way we wizards view it in Divination and things. Muggles tend to see it as a reference to what happened the previous day; you get a dream about elephants if you went to the circus hours before. But wizards see them as fortunes for the future." He coughed awkwardly, "They didn't have it. The book, I mean."
Teddy knew he babbled; he had history of speaking hardly coherently for hours on end about things he was incredibly passionate about. But as he looked up he caught James's smile, a full grin that made his stomach swell because Merlin, only James would love him at a time like this.
"Look at you geeking out." James grabbed his hand, leaning forward. "You're so crazy about this stuff, it's adorable." He kissed Teddy's lips lightly, then pulled away, ducking his head under the table and returning with a small box. "I got this for you, well Harry MacMillian at school said he had this sister who worked at this jewelry, you know it doesn't matter, anyways long-story-short… here you go." James handed him the box and Teddy, already filled to the brim with something he hadn't felt in a while, took it.
He opened the lid slowly and saw a thick, iron loop, metallic blue in colour but it was black in the dark, the perfect size for the hole in his right ear. Teddy had a surge of that same, vaguely familiar emotion as he reached up to remove the plastic stud in his ear.
"You are seriously the best, I swear. Thank you so much James." He hooked the new earring into the hole and smiled brightly, "Fucking love you - you know that. C'mere."
The kissed over the table for a minute, all sweet lips and smiles and soft, prodding tongues before a cough from the waitress broke them up. Teddy hadn't felt that good in awhile, and for a moment he almost felt like pre-dream Teddy, pre-Dominatus Teddy. It wasn't quite as good as the dreams, but it felt more sturdy, natural.
He ate his chips with vinegar, laughing as James recounted his day, making up a quick story about his supposed time in Diagon, letting each other take bites of their food. They left the diner by six, which was late for them as James had to be at the Ministry by 10:30pm and Teddy was expected anytime after 9 for his meetings.
James Apparated them home.
They hadn't even closed the door behind them, could still hear the landlady yelling for the rent, when they were kissing. One shirt was off, two shirts and then they were both bare-chested, scrabbling at one another, James against the door and then Teddy was; hands everywhere.
Trousers were unzipping, belts clanking together, and then Teddy felt James's hand, pressing against his stomach, then lower, moving under the waistband of his pants. They kissed again, Teddy's hands favoured to stay at his lover's face, while James's moved lower, grabbing and clutching and stroking.
Suddenly James was on his knees, but Teddy wasn't sure if it was James's decision or his own. It doesn't seem to matter though because Teddy's hands were in his hair then and he was thrusting in and out of James's pretty pink mouth, groaning and gasping. James was making noises too, but Teddy didn't register them as he tugged James off his cock and pulled him towards their couch.
They fell on top of it together, a mess of limbs and starving organs. Their mouth kissed again and again, as Teddy flipped them around so James was on the bottom.
Pushing, pushing, Teddy whispered in his ear, James cried out, pulsing, pressure and then silence.
Afterwards, holding each other on the couch with just the brief touches of kisses on sweat soaked skin, James told him. He passed their cigarette back to Teddy and then opened his mouth,
"They've put me on a case."
Teddy could feel the anxiousness in James's body so he pressed his lips to the man's temple, "That's great. When'd you get it, today?"
James shrugged, "A couple days ago. Maybe a week?"
Silence.
"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Teddy, confused because they told each other everything - well, James did.
"Don't know."
They sat in the silence, both thinking a mile a minute, trying to figure out what was going on in the others' head. James rolled over slightly on their couch, so he could see Teddy, grabbing the cigarette from his lips. He took a long drag and then wandlessly banished it.
Teddy spoke, eyes not moving from James's, "Well I'm happy for you. What's the job?"
"It's weird actually, as far as first cases go." James looked down at his hands, playing with the hair on Teddy's stomach. "Usually you do help on a murder, but this is different. No kiss-kiss-bang-bang, you know? Bit more…" he struggled for the right words then laughed, "Bit more Cheech meets Chong."
As per usual, Teddy could hardly make out what James and his bizarre Muggleness was saying, but he did recognize the last part.
"Chong? What's that one about again?"
"Oh - drugs." James watched Teddy's eyebrows rise. "Yeh, apparently someone's trafficking in Diagon."
Teddy's breath faltered, his eyes shut and all the things Teddy had forgotten about while he was with James came rushing back.
"Trafficking?" he could hear himself ask in an off-voice. "Like Muggles?"
He felt James shrug and then he spoke, "Yeah, quite the slut, by the way these guys get around, apparently. Only a bunch of druggies are involved so far, so the Ministry's not too worried - but word's getting around so…"
Quite the slut, oh, if only James knew.
Only druggies, yes, but things were happening, it' was getting global.
Not too worried, well that was a little insulting.
And just like that the poison had returned, rushing into his stomach, his heart, his lungs, making it difficult to breathe. He was in too deep, too far to think that something as young and clean as James could possibly cure him of his brush with power, with the dreams.
The only cure he could get was overdose, an excess of drugs and power, Hitler like forces surrounding him, presidency, a kingdom. He wanted it all, every bit of corruption he could get his hands on, and he wanted it with a glass vial in his hand.
James was only standing in his way. James, not nearly as great as Dominatus, would never, could never understand him.
-.-
Each dream was different.
Before each trip Stuart Flagstone would try to guess where he'd be this time. Maybe on a Moroccan desert, battling mermaids for a giant pearl. Maybe stealing a pirate's gold, giving it too a French Veela and getting married to her. Or perhaps he'd be on the moon, dancing with the American flag.
This was the best part of Stuart's day, when he'd found some, and was going to use it. He wasn't homeless or scared, lonely in an alleyway with nothing to eat - no, not when those brilliant memories took hold of his body. It wasn't bad or addictive then; it just was, in time and place. He wouldn't be regretting his decisions yet, wouldn't try to recall what his mother had always told him, wouldn't be looking at the disgusted looks on people's faces as they walked on by. Because, just like the blue-haired man had said, they might have wealth and family and a place to call home, but he had happiness.
Happiness in a bottle.
-.-
Teddy wiped his mouth as Dominatus zipped up his trousers, gesturing for him to take the seat in front of his. The man looked very satisfied as he spoke to Teddy.
"How're things going then?"
Teddy shrugged, a grin on his face. "All of Knockturn has completely bowed down to us. No one is taking anything else but dreams. Muggle London is starting to do the same, but there are some places we still haven't got complete power over, particularly in the Camden area.
"Our people overseas say that Toronto's in the bag, New York's on its way and Las Vegas should be taken over by Wednesday. Moscow's good, Hong Kong, even Tokyo. The Muggle drugs don't stand a chance."
Dominatus sighed happily, a huge smile stretched across his face, "Excellent! Ahh, there's nothing better than world domination, is there Ted?"
Teddy's grin grew wider; his dilated pupils making him seem almost wolf-like. "No sir."
Dominatus grabbed two crystal glasses from the compartment in his ornate desk. He placed one on the table for himself, and one for Teddy. He then brought up a bottle of 30 year old Dragon Gin. Teddy shook his head,
"Oh no, sir, I've just taken-"
"Come now Ted! One drink won't kill you! We should be celebrating."
Teddy was hesitant, but he took the drink in his hand as the bottle poured dark, nearly black liquid into his cup. Dominatus clinked their glasses together.
"To domination!" he yelled.
"To domination!" Teddy echoed.
They both shot back their drinks at the same time. Teddy held his head while Dominatus chuckled. He leaned forward, swirling the remaining liquid around in his glass.
"Now, Teddy." His eyes turned serious, but there was still a smile playing on his face. "I wanted to discuss something, something I think we might hit it off with."
Teddy tried to look cautious, but his mixed up brain couldn't decipher exactly what was happening. And his head still hurt. "What's that?"
"Well, you know as well as I do that we're doing just great in our business. The numbers will prove that to you, sure, but really all you need to do is look outside the door of this building and you'll see how many depend on this thing in their lives."
Teddy nodded, looking away so that Dominatus wouldn't see his eyes, even if he knew what Teddy had just done anyways. He felt like a petulant child, like he should be punished for being no better than the addicts outside the door.
"Our system upstairs works pretty great. But I notice that only half the dreams get bottled up. What happens to the rest of them?"
Dominatus leaned forward, his eyes resting on Teddy, set on the answer. Teddy sifted through his cloudy head for the answer, anything to please him.
"Umm… the bad ones that is, or the mediocre I guess… they- they go back. To their owners. Or to any person's mind on their way out. It all just depends how… how strong they are."
Teddy looked into his glass, then up at Dominatus. His eyes were glowing and a strange sort of smile was on his face. He tilted his head and spoke to Teddy as if he were a child,
"And why would we want to throw those away?"
Teddy's brow furrowed immediately. Wasn't the answer obvious to him? No one would buy bad dreams, that didn't make sense? Why would you take heroin that made you sad?
He voiced this outloud, "No one wants to buy bad dreams."
"Really?" asked Dominatus, his eyes twinkling as he set back in his chair. "Cause I would. Oh yes, I would indeed."
Teddy was still confused so he stood up, coming to kneel next to Dominatus. He put his head in the man's lap, nudging him to explain himself, please sir, please explain.
"Teddy," the man began, one hand sifting through the younger man's hair while the other brought the glass back up to his mouth. "They'd be good for something. Don't you see it? Can't you picture it the way I can?"
Teddy shook his head, mouth sliding over the fabric covering Dominatus's crotch.
"Nightmares. Real live nightmares." His voice has an edge to it, a spark of something that wasn't there before. "Right now we've got drug addicts and teenage kids and tired businessmen into our stuff. But we could be better. We could be great."
"How?" Teddy asked weakly.
"Dreams are for pleasure. Dreams are for when you need an escape." Dominatus sighed. "But nightmares… they're for when you want someone punished. When someone's not doing what they're told and they need a little… dark fantasy to keep them on their toes."
Teddy could imagine it. People lost inside their heads, in agony, because they couldn't choose when to wake up, they couldn't just stop when mum had cancer, oh no - they would have to see it through till the end of the dream, till the moment of truth, when a person's brain became the fiery pits of hell.
It was brilliant of course, completely brilliant.
"That's amazing sir." Said Teddy, looking up into his eyes. He meant it.
Dominatus smiled down at him, cupping his face. "Stevens!" he yelled, eyes never wandering from Teddy's. "I want you to get the New York Mob here in twenty minutes. I don't care how, just do it."
There was a pause from the next room and then a confused but strong voice, "Sir!"
"Now for you," Dominatus whispered, one hand shifting into Teddy's hair as the other unzipped his own trousers. "You've got twenty minutes."
Ten minutes later Dominatus was coming down Teddy's mouth, making him smile, making him feel proud of himself to serve such a smart men so well.
-.-
"You…you quit your job?" James asked, one eyebrow up.
Teddy shrugged from where he was cutting up pieces fir their dinner, "I wasn't enjoying it, that's all."
James sat at the kitchen table, wand in hand while he used charms to cut out the coupons he wanted from that week's grocery flyer. He spoke hesitantly, "It's not that I don't want you to be happy Teddy, because I do, definitely. But I'm not sure if… I mean, I hate my job all the time, but that's life, y'know-"
"It's not a big deal." He snapped. "I'm working with a friend of Benny's now anyways, in a bar on Knockturn. Leave it."
James is stunned for a second into silence. He's not exactly sure how to deal with an angry Teddy, as years have proven his boyfriend to be quiet, conflict-avoiding and calm in the worst of times. Teddy is a Ravenclaw through and through so James does the only thing he can think of. Be understanding.
"Well," James started, looking for any sort of hint regarding the moody brow of his lover, "I'm glad you're happy. And who knows, we might see more of each other now."
He watched Teddy shrug again, still facing the kitchen counter. James furrowed his brow. There was no way Teddy could still be cutting chicken.
He stood, walking quickly to where his boyfriend was. James slipped his long, pale, freckled arms around Teddy's warm body, breathing in the scent of him, "Are you okay?" He whispered in Teddy's ear, keeping still as he awaited the answer.
Teddy sighed then put a hand over the one James had on his stomach, squeezing it lightly. He brought their intertwined hands to his mouth and kissed them, "I'm fine. Just a little tired is all."
He turned around in James's arms and leaned into him, kissing him gently on the lips. James felt the slight smile and delved in deeper, his tongue prodding Teddy's. Teddy tasted different, like a cross between a spoonful of sugar and pure heaven. Some kind of wonderful taste that put images into his head, scenes that were bold and vivid, but not altogether understandable.
"Mmm…" James moaned, pulling away. "You taste amazing."
Teddy grinned, slipping out of his arms with another quick kiss and heading to the refrigerator to finish up dinner.
James smiled at his back, sinking back into his seat. He returned back to his coupons, grin still prominent on his face.
When everything was going wrong in the world, there was still Teddy.
-.-
It was his night off. For the first time in three months Dominatus had given Teddy a night off. Teddy knew that it was probably in regard to the fact that he had nearly fallen asleep while being fucked by the man the night before, but it was still a big deal.
He sat in his and James's apartment, looking around at the paperbacks James had lying around everywhere, the old quilt Andromeda had knit for him years before, their old television blinking out the Muggle news.
He couldn't seem to sit still; jumping up for coffee, grabbing a danish from the pantry, putting the danish back, reading Transfiguration Today, throwing the magazine across the kitchen, kicking a chair, pounding his fist into the wall, goddamn it why couldn't he think?
Teddy started shaking, violently, deep trembles coming from inside his body. He felt like he was dying, like there would never be anything to live for ever again because he couldn't move, couldn't think, could only keep shaking.
He grasped out to catch hold of something, maybe the table, maybe the fallen chair, but only grabbed air. He fell to his knees, hitting the floor with a crack.
Teddy Appartated out of his apartment.
The next thing he knew he was in Knockturn, in the very same alleyway that he would have been in if he hadn't gotten the night off. Orslo, another dealer who typically worked Cambridge, was on the other side of it, counting the money in his pockets.
"Ted!" he shouted, smiling a bit. "Merlin, you look like fucking hell you know that?"
Teddy lunged at him, grabbing the front of his robes, "Do you have any? You have to have some. Where is it, where are you hiding it?" he started tearing away the man's robes, desperate for the pretty little vials that would make everything better.
"Jesus Christ!" Orslo jumped away from the wild Teddy, with wide eyes. "The fuck's gotten into you?"
"Give it to me!" Teddy roared, not caring what he looked like in the slightest. "I know you have some, now give it to me!"
Orslo, now angry, threw a vial at Teddy, "Here you go you fucking druggie! Now leave me the fuck alone, or I'll kill you I swear."
Teddy doesn't hear that though. His thoughts were solely on the vial in his hands. He held it up to the streetlight, watching the golden liquid wink at him, tease him. He uncapped it, threw back his head and swallowed, sinking to his knees in satisfaction.
All was fine.
-.-
The Auror offices were dimly lit. After the 6 o'clock rush came back from duties the whole place seemed to fall apart, all the 9-6 workers heading home while the 12-9s took control of the office. There was an unspoken rule in the office: if there were less than 5 people in it, it was quiet.
James Potter, having been given the night shift, was used to a silent office. There was only two other Aurors there at the same time: Dave, a 40-something homophobic man, never talked to him and Ryan, a young guy who loved cooking, was on the opposite patrol as his.
But he had never really minded. It was easier to work when there was no one else in the office, regardless of the silent rule. And the faster he finished up the faster he could get home to Teddy.
James had only been at the office for an hour when his head dropped on his desk and he began to rub his temples. He was fried. He worked all night on paperwork for the case and the days were dedicated to either sleep or discussing things with Scorpius.
There was just too much to sift through and not enough people to help. He didn't have a team, or even a partner, and although Scorpius was great he couldn't exactly help on the technical side of things.
He sighed, blinking the sleep out of his eyes, and flicked the switch on the machine to his right. It was a beast of a speaker, with all sorts of knobs and knabs, buttons and turns to change the volume with. It was the home of more than a hundred tapes James had recorded over the span of three months.
Aurors, back in his father's day, used to collect memories, thousands from every suspect, and then cross reference them using many pensieves. This resulted in a lot of tampered memories and a high budget for the buying of said pensieves. Since that point Aurors relied on recordings of people's accounts, magically done so that the person who taped the record was the only one who could operate it directly.
James thought they were a pain to use.
He'd been listening to them every night since his first trip down, visiting the inmates of Knockturn Alley and other, sometimes Muggle, spots that dealers and users hung about. There was countless hours where he just listened, rewound, listened again, turned the strange green knob so it would slow down.
James, always one for mind maps, had thirteen different pieces of parchment covered in arrows and names, bubbles with descriptions, how this person connected to him and how he was dealing with her. They were all street names sure, and he only had the word of a bunch of drug addicts, but it was a huge lead if he could trace back the exact source.
From what he could see, stirring his tea in the late hours of the days while simultaneously rubbing his eyes, it all traced down to one thing: the iEye of Newt/i bar and the man with the blue hair.
James coughed down some more Earl Grey (he was an English breakfast kind of bloke but Dave insisted on it) as he turned the purple knob, rewinding the machine back to Ellen's interview.
-so he says to me, he says, Ellen, sweetheart I need to borrow some money. And I says, I says, Arty don't give me that you never gave me back for that last pound of stuff. For fuck's sake the man was hoped up on Mag- fucking Mag for a week-
James stopped the recording. That was another thing. Mag. Dreams. What did that all mean? He'd asked around of course, and had the basic understandings of the drug - half something fantasy like and half cut with something else, like Pepper-Up Potion. Whenever he asked any street people about Mag though they all got the same look in their eye and immediately began talking about past trips.
James shook his head and played the tape again, pausing to underline the already bolded MAG he had written in the centre of his mind map.
-I didn't give it to him, won't. Besides, he can't even buy anymore, cause the guy won't sell to him. Who? Yeh, blue hair. He's a fucking… ah, what's that word? Like when you have control? Yeah, he's like the dictator of Knockturn. He'll say no to yah, for no reason, he just doesn't want to sell to you today. So you just go back the next… what's that? Oh yeh, his face - always fucking different. But the same, you know? Something in his eyes. Like… like fucking dogs. Animal. He's an animal-
James forwarded it a bit, reaching the section where Ellen mentioned the man who had been found dead shortly before the interview was taken. He sighed again and started it up.
-Arty was always a weird guy, you know? You could say it's the drug, and hell that wouldn't be a stupid guess - but I got this feeling when I went around him. Like he could, you know, like kill me or some shit. It was scary. And he left some good things when we found him in the dumpster. I'm not saying it was a good thing he died or anything like that, but it helped out the alley, right? Some warm clothes for the new kids, fuck they're just teenagers-
James breathed out his nose. He was getting nowhere fast. He needed to get down in Knockturn again. Not in daylight, to question the addicts - no, he needed to try the Newt one more time. He needed to smuggle himself into that bar and kill the man that had ruined these people's lives.
He needed to end this.
-.-
"You know, you should take me to that pub sometime," said James one night after dinner while they both sat on the couch watching 11th Doctor reruns, "I'd love to go."
Teddy glanced out of the corner of his eye. James was drinking some kind of strawberry chocolate smootie thing that Albus introduced him to and he had these drawstring pajamas on and he was chuckling at something Amy Pond had said and he was so average.
Teddy swallowed, "It's really not that great. Just Knockturn. You know how that is."
"I bet it's lovely," James said matter-of-factly, then laughed, "Though seriously, Knocky needs a bit of a cleanup. Been there the past couple of days with Scorp, I swear it's like-"
"Wait." Teddy didn't just hear what he thought he heard. "Scorp? Scorpius Malfoy?"
James looked at him, his hazel eyes confused. "How many other Scorps do we know?"
"I don't hardly know him anyways." Teddy glanced down, then up, then back at James. He was pissed. Scorpius Malfoy was someone who reminded him of the family he never had and it made him scream to think about it. It didn't matter what Teddy did or thought, James was still his.
"Why're you seeing him now anyways? You know how much I hate the little bugger. You know I do." Teddy stood, knocking over James's copy of Dune on his way. "That little asshole, you know how much I- Merlin, why the fuck would you-"
"Teddy!" James stood up as well, grabbing his boyfriend by the arm. Teddy shrugged it off, "What the hell's gotten into you-"
"Into me?" he yelled in James's face as he walked past him, headed for the kitchen and a glass of Firewhiskey. "You're the one who's messing around with other guys."
He unscrewed the top of the bottle and was mad to find it almost empty. Teddy threw it across the room where it smashed the Appleby Arrows calendar they had up.
"Teddy." James was at the kitchen door, his face disbelieving. "Did you honestly just say that I'm cheating on you? Are you insane?"
"Fucking Malfoy. Fucking prick."
"What is your problem with Scorpius? And why are you breaking things?" James yelled, running over to the broken glass and waving his wand, making the pieces magically melt back into the bottle. "Merlin Teddy, what's gotten into you?"
James was at Teddy's elbow then, close to his face, too close, the anger was out of his voice and the only thing left was concern.
"Leave me alone." Teddy said coldly, passing by him swiftly.
"Teddy you can't just walk away from everything!" James followed him. There was cold determination in his eyes, but Teddy kept going, reaching the coat rack next to the door and swinging his cloak towards him. He fastened the silver clasp and glared at James.
"Why don't you understand me? I said," Teddy stepped menacingly forward. "Leave." He stepped again. "Me." Pushed James's shoulder with one hand, making him stumble. "Alone!"
Teddy turned round, hand on the door when he felt a hand on his elbow,
"Ted- what the fuck's your prob-"
Teddy swung back his arm, anger in his eyes, and slapped James clear across the face.
There was silence in the flat. Only the sound of James's breath and Teddy's pants could be heard.
Slowly, unsurely, James raised a hand up to touch the red skin of his cheek, gently holding it while his eyes remained shut. He seemed to freeze in that position for a long time; fingers over face, eyes screwed shut, taking deep breaths through his nose.
Teddy couldn't feel a thing, not a single bone in his body. He stared at James unnaturally, hardly blinking as his mind tried to piece together exactly what he had done. He hadn't just hit James, no, there was no way he could do that, he swore to never hurt him, never treat him like Harry had that night-
"I-" he choked out, his hand reaching out on its' own accord towards James. "I- I don't know-"
"Teddy." James's voice rang clear, not broken or strangled or mussed the way Teddy's was.
"But I-"
"Go get some sleep."
"James I-"
"Teddy." He said forcefully, his head turning to the side so he was looking at his boyfriend straight on, his hazel eyes full of hurt. "Lay down in bed, get some rest. We'll talk in the morning."
Teddy's eyes dropped to the carpet. He didn't know what he was thinking. A part of him, a small part that used to dominate his brain, wanted to hug James for the rest of eternity, showering him with kisses and tokens and happiness beyond his wildest dreams.
But the other part of him, huge and controlling after it had corrupted his mind, wanted to kick James in the dirt, make him pay for being so perfect and clean and straightforward. It wanted him on his knees while Teddy fucked him, wanted his head held under water for minutes at a time, wanted him to be bruised and beaten and hungry.
Teddy's mind battled it out while he walked past James, heading for their bedroom. He paused briefly at his lover's side, a hand ghosting over James's shoulder.
"I'm sorry," he whispered before continuing on his way.
He didn't know if he meant it or not.
Part the Third