Harry Potter and the Time Fluke

Through Your Teeth

There was plenty of time to sneakily browse the library and its Restricted Section. If Tom asked, Harry would say he was trying to find the spell used on him. If the older boy made no mention or comment, Harry wouldn't bring it to his attention. Either way, the Yule holidays were beginning to look like they wouldn't be much of a holiday at all.

And that was the price Harry would pay for his secrecy.

He finally took in his surroundings and Harry noticed he was back in the entrance hall. He paused and took a final few steadying breaths before schooling his features into blank neutrality and striding back into the dining room. There were less people than there were before he left. It seemed more students had voted to return to their common rooms instead of staying in the Great Hall to gossip and nibble on the snacks the house elves provided for the shell-shocked children. Or it could be that those who hadn't left felt safer in a larger group. Harry didn't know, nor did he care.

He made a beeline for the Slytherin table, whose occupants looked less shaken, yet still fearful all the same. As he approached his friends, Abraxas looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"That took a while."

Harry shrugged half-heartedly and slid into the open seat next to Dmitry. "He had a lot of questions." Lie; lie through your teeth. "I think he was trying to discern my state of mind. Since being hit by weird glowing ball-things tend to cause dramatic breakdowns in unfortunate cases such as mine."

Abraxas hummed and went back to talking about how he thought he'd done on his exams.

Harry's eyes drifted lazily down the table and halted on a head of strawberry blonde curls. The owner was deep in conversation with those around her and didn't see Harry's gaze harden. Didn't see the bone-chilling stare that promised retribution and demanded answers. If she had, she surely would have become a blubbering mess and left Hogwarts, and maybe even England, for good.

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AN: For those reading in current time, this was just an interlude chapter, there's another update immediately after this one so don't fret about the short update :)