Chapter Text
Harry
Dinner went well, as far as family dinner with the Weasley clan could go. There was a small food fight among Ginny’s kids, who had pulled Hugo into it. Harry felt the side-eyes and caught the whispering in the corner of his eye. He listened as the kids told Lucifer about everything to do with Hogwarts, but he saw the adults talking with heads together around the garden.
They had long abandoned one table with how numerous the family was. There were smaller tables and people moved around as conversation ebbed and flowed. Usually, as night set in, the kids would be sent elsewhere so the adults could have adult conversations.
The kids had gravitated to Lucifer, because he didn’t know much of anything, so they could tell him even the smallest thing about school, and he’d listen. And he gave them his rapt attention, asking all the right questions and playing ignorant of most of what he already knew.
Harry watched the others. Maggie, Fred’s wife, sat with Roxanne, each bouncing one of the fussy twins. Roxanne was a doting auntie and would likely spoil those kids rotten, since she had declared herself never to have kids of her own. Some of the others thought she’d outgrow it, but Harry suspected she was enamored with her school roommate, who might be gender-fluid, if the questions she’d been asking recently were anything to go off of.
Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Molly and Arthur were clustered near the house, whispering. And they kept throwing him glances when they thought he wasn’t looking. Lucifer’s hand slid onto his knee beneath the table, squeezing gently, even as he kept his attention on whatever story Leo was telling.
Harry extended his arm behind Lucifer, running his hand over his back to settle across his shoulders. Then the kids devolved into an argument. Lucifer turned his head, leaning in to whisper in Harry’s ear. “You alright?”
“I’m fine.”
“Liar.”
Harry glanced over to where Percy and Audrey had replaced Bill and Fleur, and Charlie had pulled Ron and George into their own whispered conversation. “I feel like they’re talking about at least me, if not us.”
Lucifer hummed and kissed his temple. “Yeah, they’re not being very subtle. I think they were hoping the kids would distract you.”
“The adults usually talk after dark. I hadn’t really planned to stay that long, but I think I probably should, just so they can say what they want to say. You don’t have to stay, if you don’t want to.”
Lucifer lifted his hand to brush his fingers over Harry’s jaw. “I want to, for moral support if nothing else. I told Vitan and Zeph to give us the day.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t want to rush you with your family, especially since your time with them is limited.” And coming to an end, but that part went unsaid. “I’ll follow your lead.”
Harry smiled at him and kissed him softly. “If you want to leave, we will.”
“I’ve had family dinners with Bel’s family. Yours is nothing.”
Sure enough, after dark, the kids were set up outside, with a campfire and snacks, supervised by the adult nieces and nephews. The only one who joined the adults was Teddy, who was sporting a vibrant orange hair-color.
Conversation was a little stilted, almost rehearsed, as the adults settled in the sitting room. The tension seemed to only grow. Hermione appeared to be the only one not aware of the reason, because she pulled Ron aside and started whispering at him. Lucifer took Harry’s hand, interlacing their fingers, giving it a squeeze.
Whatever this was, it was about to be pushed into the open, because Hermione was pissed. She turned toward the room as a whole and took a couple steps. “How about instead of whispering and making everyone uncomfortable, you just fucking ask.”
“Hermione,” Bill hissed. “Not with…” He cast a glance toward them, or more specifically Lucifer.
“You don’t think Harry has more self-assurance and self-respect? Do you really think he’d stay in an abusive relationship?”
Well, that wasn’t what Harry had thought the whispering had been about. He’d suspected it with the polyamory. What had made them think he was in an abusive relationship?
Lucifer leaned over, to whisper to him. “You did mention past trauma when we talked about communication in open relationships. I tried to cover it, but they must have assumed that was your cry for help and me trying to downplay it.”
Harry sighed and sat back, tipping his head back as he took off his glasses. They were more bothersome now that he didn’t wear them when he was in the Afterlife. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “None of my romantic relationships were or are abusive.” He never really planned to tell them anything from his dramatic past, especially because they would feel terrible for not noticing it.
Charlie snorted. “I don’t believe that for a second. He hasn’t let you out of his line of sight for more than a minute since you mentioned the abuse. And don’t think I didn’t see the way he puts his hands on you.”
Harry really didn’t want to go into this. It was one thing when he was able to talk to Helaena to process, when she eased him into thing, or when he was able to take his time to get the words out.
Lucifer’s hand slid up to his wrist, holding him, fingers pressing into flesh. Right over his pulse, which had started to race.
“Like that,” Charlie spit out. “How long had you been sleeping with him before he forced you to see other people?”
“Charlie!” Hermione cried.
“No, Hermione, no one goes from monogamy to seeing multiple people, not like that. So, Lucian, how long have you been whoring him out?”
Harry shot to his feet. He could get through the abuse accusations. He would have gotten to it, after calming his racing heart and thoughts, but the second it became an attack, and on Lucifer, he wasn’t going to let that stand.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” Harry hissed, getting into Charlie’s face. “He has been the person keeping me stable. He’s the one who convinced me to talk to a shrink and found me a person I can actually talk to. He and I were friends long before we started fucking. You are not entitled to my life, nor should you demand I tear myself open to prove anything to you. But since you seem to have built your own narrative, let me set the record straight.”
Hermione stepped up to him. “Harry, you don’t have to do this.”
Harry found himself giving a huff of a laugh that was bordering on hysterical. “No, they’ve all decided what the story is. I make one comment about trauma, and what?” He looked around at the room at the rest of the Weasleys. “You decided I’m being abused and raped and that someone I care about it a monster? And you’re going to swoop in and rescue me? Well, guess what. You’re more than thirty years too fucking late for that.”
Charlie opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
Harry spread his arms. “You want the monster who was raping me and whoring me out? That would be the fucker I have the misfortune to call my uncle. For ten fucking years. I spent four years being tied down and sold to whatever monsters were willing to pay to fuck a child. Then I found out I was a wizard, but that didn’t stop him or my cousin or his friends from raping me. Every. Fucking. Summer. But, you know, blood wards would keep me safe.”
He took a step back. “And I spent years thinking that I couldn’t talk about it because of shame or some kind of fucked up trauma response. That no one would care or believe me. But I was fine. Everyone expected me to be fine. So, I acted fine and didn’t talk about it.”
A familiar hand slid into his, Lucifer. Grounding him.
“Except it wasn’t. Because I wanted to talk, I tried with so fucking many people. But I couldn’t make myself say anything. Then suddenly I could. Everything hit like a fucking tidal wave. And this random fucking memory surfaced. Because I’d briefly met Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape before starting school. When they’d put a fucking gag spell on me so Vernon and Petunia Dursley could do whatever the fuck they wanted and I wouldn’t be able to say a fucking thing.”
There was a ringing filling the room, and it was getting hard to breathe.
Lucifer
All through Harry’s rant, Lucifer had tried everything he could to ground him. But there was only so much he could do in the mortal world surrounded by mortals, especially when Harry wanted to leave them in the dark as to who and what they were.
But the moment Harry stopped talking and swayed, Lucifer knew something was off. Hermione reached toward him, only to rip her hand back with a yelp. That set everyone off.
Lucifer rounded Harry, getting into his line of sight, and saw the distant look in his eyes. It was like the first time, when they’d first attempted sex. Mentally, he was far away. And the thundering chatter wasn’t helping. He wanted to shout at them to just shut up, but he doubted a raised voice would help.
He carefully wrapped an arm around Harry and half-dragged him into the other room he’d seen earlier. It appeared to be a small study with only one door. He kicked the door closed, even as others tried to follow, and threw the lock.
He leaned against the door, holding Harry close. “Come back to me,” he murmured. “You’re safe. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” He let his cloaking fade and wrapped his wings around Harry.
Harry blinked, eyes shifting in a way that made it seem like he was actually seeing him. His hand came up to Lucifer’s cheek, and then a sob tore from his chest. Lucifer just held him, his heart breaking, as Harry wept into his shoulder, clinging to him like a lifeline.
A while later, when Harry had calmed, they sat together. Lucifer had his cloaking back in place and Harry between his legs, leaning back against his chest. Lucifer ran one hand through Harry’s hair, while Harry played with the fingers on his other hand.
“Do you really remember the spell?” Lucifer found himself asking.
“Not until I said it,” Harry whispered. “Then it was there and I was a kid and… I felt the spell inside my head. I didn’t know what it was at the time. I didn’t know magic was real. I didn’t know I was important to a war. I didn’t know… what my life was about to become.”
Lucifer tipped his head down to speak softly into his ear. “You are so much more than what they tried to make you. You are important to so many people simply by being who you are.” He took his hand from Harry’s and used it to cradle his jaw and make him look into his eyes. “You are important. My existence would be so much poorer without you in it. And I don’t mean the sex. I mean you. You are one of my dearest friends.”
Harry leaned in and kissed him. “But you mean the sex, too, right?”
Lucifer moaned. “The sex is a bonus.”
Harry kissed him again, and it became a long, slow dance of lips, their tongues brushing, slightly. Then Lucifer felt a shift just outside the room, outside the window to be precise.
“I think they’re about to break through the window,” Lucifer murmured against Harry’s lips.
“Let them,” Harry said. “I’m not done with you.” He brought one hand up to card into Lucifer’s hair, pulling him back into their kiss.
Lucifer returned it without complaint. Kissing Harry wasn’t exactly a hardship. It was addictive, and he never wanted to be without it. When the window shattered, neither of them paid it any mind. Harry’s free hand reached behind him to rub at Lucifer’s cock.
He wanted… fuck he wanted. He always wanted… craved him… but not now.
Lucifer took that hand and pulled it away, breaking the kiss. “Not tonight. You just had a panic attack, and you need sleep.”
Harry pouted. “What about in the morning?”
“We’ll revisit this conversation in the morning, but I need you to be honest about your headspace. And you’ll be talking to Helaena as soon as we get home.”
Harry sagged against him. “Yeah, that’s probably not a terrible idea.” He sat forward. “Probably better I do that before we fuck, so maybe not in the morning.”
“Who the fuck in Helaena?” said Ron Weasley as he fell in the window.
“My therapist. You know, since I just had a panic attack because you lot pushed me.” He pushed himself up and held out his hand to Lucifer. “I was going to tell you in my own time, so thanks for that. Now, I’m going to bed.”
“And are you taking him with you?” Ronald scowled in Lucifer’s direction.
“Yep.” Harry pulled open the door and dragged Lucifer after him as he led the way up the stairs.