[Hogwarts Express] the year of the long way home [Caden]

It happened in the middle of the night, like the beasts, like the fire. He had been resting in Caden’s bed, warm and safe against everything, when a shrieking noise split the air. It had taken real work to get out of bed then. It had never been good news so far, and he wasn’t ready for things to be worse. But they heard excited shouts and managed to climb out of their curtains, only to see the dome shattering through the tower windows.

Henry had sagged in Caden's arms, so relieved he could barely stand.

There was no celebration. They were ushered quickly out of the ruined castle to Hogsmeade station with only whatever they thought to grab as they left. Henry sat in his pajamas and sweatshirt on the padded train seat, clutching his bag on his lap. Caden sat across from him. They were quiet, weary. Everything still felt surreal.

He thought of his family, waiting for him at the platform. He thought of being home, sleeping in his bedroom, waking up to the smell of bacon sizzling and talking with his dad over breakfast. The train ride that stretched out before them seemed too long to withstand, when he knew what lay at the other end.

But he thought of Caden too, or of being without him. They would write, surely, but they had grown so close over the last months that not being able to reach out and touch him would be a shock to the system. Last night would be the last night they shared a bed for a month, this the last chance they had to talk in person. And here they were, silent.

Maybe Caden had a lot on his mind too.

Henry looked across the compartment at Caden, meeting his eyes, smiling gently. “Sort of hard to process, huh?” he said. “After being trapped so long. It’s weird.” He didn’t have words for what was weird about being free, something psychological or philosophical that was out of his depth. Maybe Cae knew. He was better at thinking about things than Henry was.

He glanced out the window, watching the dark shadows of the countryside roll by behind his reflection in the glass. “I wonder what it’ll be like, not to have you there,” he said, eyes flicking back to his lover. “That’ll be weird too.” They had been each other’s family, back in that dome. But now they had real families to be with. Henry felt selfish and shallow, thinking about his boyfriend when his dad and grandparents were waiting for him. They were supposed to be the most important thing.

But here he was, missing how things had been while imprisoned. Something was seriously wrong with his head.

To avoid looking at Caden, he fiddled with the strap of his bag. “Are—are you excited to go home?” he managed to ask. “See your family?” Maybe Caden talking about his life would help him get into the right mood, make him want to be home.

@Caden Rothway

The train was rumbling down the tracks as it always did, as it had a thousand times, and yet it felt different. More jarring. More shaky. It felt wrong. It all felt wrong. A pale, dark haired boy stared out the window at the sky overhead, a sky that had finally fallen dark after all these months of glittering and gleaming with ancient power. It was like a dream, seeing everything so still. But the stillness was ironically unsettling, turning his stomach and making him tense.

He was thin, he’d always been, but the final weeks in the castle had taken a toll on all of them and in the light of the train cabin he felt very gaunt. In truth, he didn’t look all that different, perhaps a bit sharper in the planes of his face, but inside he felt very small. Frail, even. But it wasn’t a physical pain, it was deeper. It was change, swift and uncertain and enveloping them all. That often plundered even the bravest souls into rumination.

Everything was going to be different now. Back home, back with his parents, and in the middle of the year? It made no sense. He was being pulled away from everything he knew, from the fighting, the running, and worse yet: him, that boy, the one across from him in the cabin. So impossibly handsome and so accommodatingly quiet. He felt guilty. He hadn’t spoken a word to him in all these minutes, or had it been hours? He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to fall to pieces. He didn’t want to face the fact that this train ride was a parting of ways.

And then Henry’s voice was piercing the silence, Caden’s eyes darting to him. He nodded softly, his legs curled up before him as his arms wrapped around his knees. “Very,” he said simply, swallowing nervously and wanting to say more. The words were there, somewhere, but they were jumbled and frantic and he didn’t want to leave things like that. But Henry continued on, saying those words, those terrible words. Not to have you there. Caden felt a chill run down his spine, and then more guilt. How could he be so selfish? They were starving, people were dying. And yet somehow, through it all, that dome had kept he and Henry together.

“Yeah,” he offered, stupidly, almost dismissively. Of course it would be weird, of course it would be terrible. Henry loved his life back home, his family and their adventures. But what of Caden? The Slytherin boy who’d weaseled his way in? Tricked him, no doubt. Manipulated him. He was extrapolating, and he knew it, but he was also smart enough to know that his serpentine robes had never done him any favors. Perhaps when enough people form an opinion about you, when they tell you what you are, you have no choice but to believe it.

Caden looked to him then, holding his eyes there, watching the boy fiddle with the straps of his bag. He was as patient as a saint, truly, and Caden owed him more than two words. “No,” he said openly, waiting for Henry to look up and meet his gaze. “It doesn’t… feel like home,” he said simply, slowly, as though it were hard to form the words. He hesitated. “Not without you.” And as the words left him, he understood the truth. He didn’t want to leave. He didn’t want to be home. He didn’t want to have to face change and inquiry and all of those things. Monsters in the night? Those could be battled, overcome, wounds mended.

But the real world? Adult world? That was far more frightening than anything he’d yet to face.

And he'd be facing it without Henry.

Caden didn’t seem at all well. Maybe if Henry didn’t know him he would have seemed normal, the quiet boy who had slept in the bed across the room. But now, he had seen him so much better, seen him happy. This was worried, somber Caden, sitting across from him, and Henry didn’t know what to do to fix it, or if he should. Perhaps it was better to let people feel feelings, even if they hurt. Even if they hurt Henry to see.

The other boy gave short answers, clearly lost in thought on the other end of the conversation. But on his last attempt. Caden started to explain himself. No, he wasn’t ready to leave. Henry looked up in surprise. He hadn’t been expecting that. He knew Caden loved his parents. “You don’t mean that,” he said. “Maybe I won’t be there, but haven’t you missed them?” The words were what he needed to hear as well, and it comforted him a little that Caden was having the same difficulty. They’d managed to live without each other for years and years, why did it now sound so impossible?

After a moment’s pause, Henry got up, leaving his bag on the seat, and went over to sit next to Caden. He slipped his fingers through the other boy’s and leaned against his shoulder. “It’s only a month,” he said, “and then we’ll be back at school, and it’ll be just like always only nothing’s trying to kill us. And I’ll write, of course,” he added. “And maybe I can come visit.” The thought of going to Caden’s house, meeting his family brought a fond smile to his face, until he realized that Caden may not want that. “Unless you don’t want your parents to know about me, anyway…”

They hadn’t talked about it since the night in the divination tower, the anniversary. Back then it had been more abstract, more of a someday, but now the time where they would need to make a decision was approaching as fast as the train rolled down the track. It had arguably been easier, without contact with the outside world. Their relationship had been conducted entirely within a bubble, and now they had to face what was around it for the first time.

He’d wanted to tell his dad about Caden from the first time they kissed, but he wondered now, would Caden want him to? In the beginning he had been the one reluctant to share their relationship. Would things be the same with this audience? He didn’t want to push Caden into something he wasn’t ready for.

But he did hope. He wanted to be a part of Caden’s family, wanted him to be a part of his.

“No, not really,” he replied distantly, his eyes affixed to the moving shadows outside the rolling train. He’d thought of his parents many times, particularly when he was fearful, but everything seemed different now. Everything. He’d fought, ailed, ached. He’d saved a life and found his own in the process. He’d always longed to change, to grow like this, particularly when so many people kept expecting him to ‘come out of his shell’ at some point in time. But this was so fast, all at once, a few months that had birthed a new person. A person who didn’t know how to exist outside those stone walls. A person who didn’t know how to exist without Henry by his side.

He felt so pathetic.

“I’ve had other things on my mind, I mean,” he clarified, fearing that Henry would think ill of him. Like he hated his family, like he didn’t want to see them. He did. Just not now. Not like this. Too many questions, too many stories to tell. Too many secrets that he felt protective of. Henry was moving to him then and Caden felt strange, wanting him near so desperately but also very afraid that he would crumble beneath his touch. He didn’t want Henry to see him like that, blubbering and fearful and weak. He didn’t want anyone to see him like that.

Caden laced his fingers with Henry’s and leaned back against him, closing his eyes and feeling a lot welling up inside of him. Only a month? That felt like an eternity. It had only been a few short months for all of this to happen, everything that had changed. A lot could happen in a month. “I know you will,” Caden said softly, “I will too. Of course I’ll write,” he said, but it wasn’t enough. They both knew it. He looked to him with a raised brow, a nervousness in his chest. Henry? At his house? In his room? With his parents?

“You’d visit?” he said, blinking, “you’d really visit?” For whatever reason he’d assumed that Henry would be as nervous to meet his family as Caden was to meet Henry’s. He wasn’t sure he’d survive it, he wasn’t sure he’d be good enough. He shook his head and turned closer to him, becoming more animated all at once. “I want them to know you, I do,” he said quickly, as though swatting away the smoke. “I just… I wasn’t sure if… I dunno,” he said, the words eluding him. “They don’t even know about me, you know?” he reminded, feeling foolish. “If you come, that quickly, I’m not sure how they’ll be,” he offered genuinely. “I wasn’t sure you’d want to get caught up in all that, my baggage,” he said very quietly. Just like that he was slipping back into the clamshell.

It seemed with every turn, every jitter of the train, something was shaking the confidence from Caden’s mind. A voice taunted him, suggesting that this month, this time away from the castle and all their special places, would be enough to change Henry’s mind.

“Huh,” said Henry. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Was there something going on in Caden’s family that he was unaware of, some reason he didn’t want to be home? He didn’t want to pry, but hoped Caden would open up to him eventually. “Yeah,” he said. “I get how you could have been thinking of other stuff.” It wasn’t a lie, Henry had had other things on his mind too. But whether he felt that was acceptable was another story.

He smiled faintly, glad to change the subject. “I’ve never written a love letter before,” he said. “I guess I’ll get some practice. I owe you a Valentine’s Day, after all.” Henry had always wanted to be one of the happy couples in Hogsmeade, cuddled up over a butterbeer against the cold February weather. And now that he’d fallen in love they were being sent away. At least his gran would be his valentine, like usual. At least they weren’t still trapped in Hogwarts. Things were starting to look up—or they were meant to be. Caden didn’t seem to be in higher spirits.

“Of course I’d visit, if you wanted,” said Henry with a broader smile. “I’d like to meet your family—or you could come over to mine?” His face softened, though, as Caden explained. “We could just be friends from school, maybe?” he suggested. “Friends visit each other.” He would gladly omit the depth of their relationship just to see Caden’s face this month. And maybe they could sneak off somewhere, be a bit more than friendly… He shifted in his seat awkwardly and nestled a bit deeper against Caden. “Either way, I don’t mind your baggage,” he said, squeezing his boyfriend’s hand encouragingly. “I don’t mind anything about you.”

He just wanted Caden to feel the relief that everyone else was feeling, now that the dome was down, that they were safe. He still seemed to have a weight on him. It was Henry’s job to shift it off.

“Valentine’s,” Caden said, sadly, his voice weak and tired. They’d be apart on Valentine’s Day. He’d never been one to put a lot of stock into the holiday, never really being the romantic type, but now that he knew what it was like… how it felt… he was almost embarrassed. He used to roll his eyes at the idea of candlelight and professions of love and now it felt so necessary, so truthful, once again he felt lost. It was almost like he didn’t even know himself these days. Maybe all those years of running from himself were starting to catch up.

He looked to him and smiled, shaking his head fondly. “We’ll be the ones writing love poems, eh?” he wondered, leaning closer against him. “Sappy and sweet and sickening,” he said, words he’d once used in judgment that now encompassed his reality. “I’d rather have you with me than a silly old pen and parchment,” he said softly. It was obvious, but necessary. He looked in his eyes as the boy replied, sitting up with wide eyes. “Friends,” he said, tasting the word. He smiled, just a bit. “I don’t know how to be ‘just friends’ with you Henry,” he teased. “I’m not that good of an actor.”

But then again, perhaps he was. Perhaps he could be, if survival was the goal. He was afraid he couldn’t survive without the boy, and yet he was also afraid their relationship wouldn’t survive the scrutiny. Perhaps a bit of play-pretend could get them through, tide things over until they had more time — more time to learn about one another, to grow, to answer those tough questions. Henry was leaning ever more against him and it felt so right, the Slytherin finally relaxed into the cushion and pulled him in.

“You should,” he said simply, kissing his forehead. Caden had many faults. “But… I’m glad you don’t,” he offered, deep down still afraid that they were just empty words. That was the thing about perfect moments, they became so precious that the idea of losing them was paralyzing. Caden didn’t want to be paranoid, he didn’t have a choice. He was quiet for a moment before speaking. “A visit would be nice,” he said, leaving it open ended. The idea of going to Henry’s house, meeting all of his family, that intimidated the hell out of Caden. But he didn’t want to admit to it, to sound like a coward. Especially when Henry’s family was so important to him.

But a month without Henry? That sounded scarier, still. He held his gaze and waited, letting his words settle between them. “I want… I want to make this work,” he said softly, “I don’t want this month to get in the way.” It was a simple sentence that carried a much deeper idea: Caden’s fear that their time apart could ruin everything.

Henry laughed. "I don't know, poetry might be a bit more than I can handle,” he said. “I can barely write a potions essay.” He was no wonder with words. Or much of anything, really. If Caden even loved what he was now, would he still love whatever fraction of that he could put to paper? He was beginning to understand what Caden might be worried about, how distance might test them.

He had just assumed the month would be nothing. A pause, and then right back to where they were. But life went on. It could go on in a bad direction. That was the case always, though, he thought. Any time there could be some bad turn, a catastrophe, or a more gradual drifting apart, even when they were within reach. With luck they’d stay as close as ever.

“Aw,” said Henry with a grin, “you’ll make me blush.” He chose to focus on the implication of how deeply he was loved than the implication that Caden wouldn’t want him to visit, couldn’t pretend. If Caden wasn’t ready to be honest with his family there wasn’t much they could do. Henry tried his best not to be bothered by Caden’s reluctance. It was something he couldn’t relate to, but he could try to understand.

Caden finally wrapped an arm around him, kissing his forehead. Henry sighed, melting into his touch. He didn’t say anything. There was nothing he could say when Caden got like this, doubted himself. All he could do was be there and wait for it to pass. “We’ll talk about it, then,” he said, when Caden agreed to a visit. They didn’t have to plan out their whole month now. But they could, if they wanted. They had a long ride ahead of them. He’d let Caden decide.

“Of course it’ll work,” he said, earnestly. “Relationships survive worse than this all the time. And I love you. I don’t know what could make me stop.” Don’t worry. He realized the irony, the king of worrying trying to convince someone else to be sure. But he was strangely certain about this. They’d make it.

“You and me both,” he conceded, offering a faint smile to the other boy. He perked, just a bit. “You don’t have to worry about those,” he said simply, “I’ll help you with those.” He loved to feel useful, smart. Able. He leaned against him and felt so many things. Fear, sadness, longing. It was stupid to want to be back in that castle, he knew how stupid it was, but he couldn’t stop it. They’d slept beside one another for months now — that was his reality. Not out there, whatever was waiting.

“You’re cute when you blush,” he said matter-of-factly, but felt like he was being disappointing. He wanted to be brave, to be out and proud and celebratory. But it just wasn’t that easy, at least not yet. It was all so new to him, and that was certainly part of his panic. It all came together so quickly, with him and Henry, and the idea of sharing that — letting everyone else in — it was nerve-wracking. But he thought of breakfast, the time they’d proudly sat together. That wasn’t so bad. But then again, he hadn’t really cared all that much about his schoolmates. They’d all be parted in a year anyway.

The thought struck him and he felt very cold. So would he and Henry.

“Yeah?” Caden said, holding him closer. Tears were pricking in his eyes and he prayed they would not fall. He didn’t want to alarm him. He didn’t want to be a mess. Suddenly meeting Henry’s family and being with him every minute that he could felt more important than anything, than his fears and his doubts. “I’d like that,” he said, his voice soft and quiet. He’d nuzzled his cheek against Henry very specifically, so that he couldn’t see his eyes.

“I love you too,” he added, his tone more sorrowful than he’d meant it. He was melancholy. He was fearful. He was many things all at once and heartsick was one of them. “That’s why I’m so afraid,” he offered, barely above a whisper. “I love you so much that I can’t even think about not having you anymore,” he confessed. And for once, it was the raw truth. A tear spilled over his eyelid and he wiped it away.

 “Alright,” said Henry, “no poetry, then.” He lifted his head from Caden’s shoulder and smiled, hoping to see him smile back, but the other boy still seemed stuck in his fog of sadness. His words were soft and dispassionate, his eyes far-off, deep in thought. Henry wanted to bring him back, but didn’t know how. It was a scary, reeling feeling, the lack of power to help.

Henry smiled softly at Caden's compliment, yet he was feeling his own fog start to rise around him. They sat together, clinging to each other in this world they were lost in.

When Caden spoke next his voice was heavy with tears. Henry pulled back, looked up, frowned sadly at the look on his face. It broke his heart to see but at the same time he didn’t want Caden to hold back, didn’t want to force that Gryffindor bravery on him. He enveloped Caden’s hand in both his own. It’s okay.

“It scares me too,” he said. “But it scared me more when were were back there, when you could’ve died. We’re going home. We’re going to be safe, and then we’ll be back together before we know it.” He crossed his legs on the compartment bench and held Caden’s hand in his lap. “So let’s talk about when I’ll get to see you again,” he said, trying yet again to be encouraging, trying to get Caden to smile through his tears. “What’s your favorite meal? Granddad’ll want to make you eat.” He looked down at his own body, soft and folded as he sat, and laughed a little. “It’s his fault I’ve got so much meat on my bones.”

Henry was holding his hand, reassuring him. Caden’s weary eyes met his with uncertainty. He wanted to believe him, those beautiful words, but he was too skeptical. This felt so important, so tense. Like the world was collapsing around him. He knew it was stupid, selfish, immature. But even those logical thoughts couldn’t stop the deluge of sorrow and fear that were drowning him.

Henry was trying to get him to focus on something else, something happier. It helped, and he smiled — though in truth, it was mostly just to throw him a bone. He was being so patient and it only made him realize how much he needed him around. “I don’t know,” he said, looking down, wracking his brain. Something hearty? Something traditional? Whatever meal he picked would surely say something about him and he didn’t want to say the wrong thing.

He met his gaze after a minute, drinking in the sight of his tan skin and freckles. Like sprinkles. His lips curled into a smirk. “Cupcakes,” he said simply, “I want cupcakes.” Henry would know why. “I like your meat and I like your bones,” he said matter-of-factly, leaning over and kissing him softly before he could protest. Henry was the most beautiful thing in the world to him and there was no room for discussion about it. His lips lingered, a bit harder, a bit more yearning.

He pulled back and felt flustered. “S-sorry,” he said. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about that too — the things he wanted to do him. He had half a mind to do them here in this very compartment, though his fear of being discovered stopped him cold. It felt good, sure, but there was something so deeply intimate about being with him like that — feeling him close, knowing he’s near. Getting so lost that he couldn’t tell his limbs from Henry’s.

“I’m such a mess,” he observed, from high to low to lustful and everywhere in between. “I’ll fall to pieces without you,” he confessed, leaning his head on Henry’s shoulder. He meant every word of it.

Henry smiled broadly, finally a bit of hope sparking in his chest. “We’ll have cupcakes until you’re sick of them,” he promised, squeezing Caden’s hand. It was so good to see him joke, to reference that day they’d first talked. It was encouraging to see that almost-smile on his face.

Happily, he leaned back into the kiss, sinking into the seat back. It felt nice to hear Caden say that, even if he was just saying it to say it. He was sweet to go out of his way to try and make Henry feel better about what he knew was an insecurity. Even if it didn’t help, the intention was nice. Henry tilted his head as Caden deepened their kiss, one hand moving from the other boy’s hand to his chest.

Caden pulled away then. Henry sighed. He'd half-forgotten where they were. It felt so private, like being back behind their bed curtains. This was probably why no one wanted to sit in their compartment, they figured they’d be saying goodbye in a way nobody else would want to see. Curiously, he wondered if anyone had ever shagged on the Hogwarts Express. Probably. From what he heard of people they found a way to shag basically anywhere. But he personally wanted to save that for somewhere else. His boyfriend seemed to agree.

He imagined, though, Caden at his house, sneaking into his bed after too long apart. As his imagination ran wild he slid his hand up over Caden’s collarbone to the side of his neck, stroking softly with his thumb. “Don’t be sorry,” he said. “I’ll miss it too.”

The boy leaned on his shoulder and confessed his worries, his fears, his helplessness. Henry didn’t know what to do. He just held him, absorbing it all. If he couldn’t at least be a sponge for his sadness, he wouldn’t be much good.

“I’ll never be sick of them,” he countered with a soft smile. He knew that much to be true. He also knew that Henry’s hand, wrapped around his like that, made everything so much better. Henry was good at making things better.

He nuzzled his head against the boy as he assured him he’d miss it too. It was all so much — the longing and the ache that he felt for him inside on top of all the hormones that simmered between them. He was a potioneer, he knew a reaction when he saw one. Caden was sorry for lots of things, for being odd, for being sad. For never quite having the right words to explain himself. Maybe he didn’t needs words. They were fleeting, anyway. He needed actions.

“I want you to kiss me,” he said, sitting up and meeting his gaze. “At the station, I mean. When we get off,” he finished. He chewed nervously on his lower lip. He wasn’t second guessing himself, he was second guessing how Henry might react. Was he being bossy? Was he being foolish? “I just… I think that people need to see it,” he said, trying to find the words. “Because me just telling them… it won’t mean as much,” he said, his hands in Henry’s.

“When they see me with you, they’ll understand,” he said, his words carrying a certainty that he wasn’t sure he could possess. A hand moved to Henry’s freckled cheek, briefly cupping it with a smirk. “Hearing it, it might sound scary,” he said, “the whole.. boy thing,” he offered with a little grin. “But seeing it? Seeing how we are together?” he trailed. “That’s a special kind of magic.”

Caden sat up off his shoulder, and told him quite seriously that he wanted them to kiss.

Henry hadn’t even though about it. He hadn’t thought about how kissing on the platform might be a significant act for Caden. He’d just assumed they’d see each other off with whatever affection they felt it warranted (probably a lot). But that would be one way of coming out. He’d been so focused on the telling, hadn’t considered the showing.

“If you want to,” he said. “I mean—it’s your decision. You know I would.” He smiled as Caden’s hand came to his cheek. It was all terribly flattering. To be that spark, that magic thing that made it all easy, meaningful… There was no higher praise.

He looked down at their hands. “You’re okay with it for sure, then?” he asked. “Your parents knowing?” Henry chuckled a little and smirked up at him. “And everyone else’s parents?” He hoped at once that he wasn’t putting him off, making him think too much about things. What Caden was proposing was a passionate gesture and Henry was worried too much talking it over would make him less inclined to follow through.

“Does this mean I get to meet them, then?” he asked. “Because I’m looking forward to it.”

“I want to,” he said, his voice more certain than his thoughts. He’d always be afraid, there was no avoiding that. He was starting to believe the bravery wasn’t never being afraid, it was being afraid but doing it anyway. Not that he considered himself brave, of course. Perhaps he liked the idea of it, though.

“They’re gonna have to know,” Caden said. Whether he was okay with it or not was irrelevant, he wasn’t raised to keep these kind of secrets. From the world? From strangers? Sure. But family was family and there was no tolerance for those sort of things. He wasn’t so much worried about his mum, but his dad? He was supposed to be training him, mentoring him in potion making. He needed his guidance and he needed his support. His dad had always been the more traditional one. He was a chemist, after all. He wasn’t one for ‘nonsense.’

“No,” he said with a cheeky grin, shaking his head. He softened. “Of course you’ll meet them, Henry. I reckon they’ll want to at least know the name of the boy I’m snagging on the platform,” he said with a laugh. It was easier to laugh about it, like it was silly to be worried at all. Perhaps it would all go up in smoke, but better now than later when the stakes were higher. “Though you might want to hide the Gryffindor badge,” he teased with a smirk.

“Mum’s a Ravenclaw, Dad’s a Slytherin,” he explained. “Now if only we had a Hufflepuff friend to bring along,” he said with a smile, “we’d have a full house.” He smiled at him, their hands entwined. “What about your folks?” he wondered, blinking. “Will they — I mean, how do you think they’ll take it?”

"I guess so." Henry shrugged. He had been looking forward to telling his family about Caden, sharing his happiness. He couldn't imagine being the sort of person, being in the sort of family where he wasn’t eager to be himself.

But he was still happy, elated for Caden that he was taking this step. His teasing refusal, though, made him purse his lips. “Yeah, I guess, I guess,” he said. He raised his eyebrows at the Gryffindor comment, hoping it was more of another joke than a suggestion with a grain of seriousness. “Are we that bad?” he asked, throwing back a winning grin. His gran had always told him he had a charming smile. Maybe he could win over Caden’s parents that way.

He nodded, laughing. “Gran was a Hufflepuff, I’ll bring her. If you’re willing to be embarrassed, that is.” Henry smiled fondly into his lap. “They’re all dreadfully embarrassing. It’s probably a good thing I’ve never had anyone to bring over.” He looked up at Caden again. “Dad knows I like boys, but he doesn’t know I like Slytherins. Might be a bit…taken aback, but, y’know, he’ll get over it. Especially when he sees us together.”

It was kind of a self-centered feeling, confident and buoyant. How could anyone not love us?