The Things We Never Did

Harvey didn't like to let anyone know it but the truth was that he actually wanted to get good grades to set him up for his future. He knew that he was bright and he wasn't afraid to put the extra work in when he needed to, in fact a part of him was sure that that was the reason why he hadn't been expelled years ago, but that wasn't a side of himself that he wanted to let anyone see. He had learned a long time ago that if people saw good then they expected good and those were expectations that he knew that he was never going to be able to live up to. He didn't necessarily like fighting but he had become pretty good at it and when someone said something about his brother then he couldn't deny that he saw red. He had been doing his best to keep his temper under control but there were times when that wasn't possible and that day was definitely one of those. The other Slytherins knew not to mess with him and most of the other students did as well but there were always going to be those who wanted to try their luck. One of the cowards had tried to curse him while his back was turned and it was only thanks to one of his friends telling him to watch out that he had been able to dodge it. After that there was no way that he was going to let the other boy get away with it, people could say what they wanted to about him but he wasn't going to let anyone try and curse him while his back was turned. For the most part the Lestrange name still carried with it a certain amount of respect but the truth was that Harvey's inner circle was small because he wanted it that way. He didn't find it very easy to trust people and he never had done so it was easier to stick to the people he knew that he could trust. When it came to girls, however, that was a completely different matter. Harvey had been known to flirt with just about anyone regardless of what house they were in and one night stands were something that he'd had a fair few of as well. There were a few girls who had tried to get him to commit to something more but that had never been his style and so far he had yet to find anyone to make him change his mind on that.

Now that magic had been revealed to the world just about any plans that Harvey might have had for his seventh year had all but gone out the window. With any luck there would be some fun that could still be salvaged from it but right now Harvey just wanted things to settle down. He knew that there were students who thought that his parents were involved with the Enlightened and some perhaps thought that he was too. Harvey wasn't sure whether his parents were involved or not but he definitely wasn't and he didn't want to be either. The Enlightened were idiots for doing what they had done and there was no way that he would have been involved with that. He didn't really care what the other students thought if he was completely honest but he did hope that they stopped trying to take out what had happened on him. Normally he was pretty good at talking himself out of trouble but this time he hadn't been able to because the professor had seen the fight firsthand, or the tail end of it at least. The student that had tried to curse him had ended up in the Hospital Wing which Harvey hoped would teach him a lesson but they had both been given detention for it. Harvey had already served his at least so he hoped that would be the end of it now but only time would tell. Getting rid of the first years was easy and Harvey knew that word of what had happened had probably spread through his house over the course of the day. A couple of his friends had checked in with him before detention and so had Cory but the others could apparently see that he wasn't in a good mood and knew to keep their distance which suited him just fine. Harvey was doing his best to get his anger back under control when he heard a voice speaking to him and he didn't even need to open his eyes to know who it was, it was a voice he recognised. "Maybe you should start telling the professors that, the whole detention thing wore out half way through our first year," Harvey said, opening his eyes at last and letting them meet Elaine's. "I take it you heard what happened?"

ELAINE MACKENZIE WARRINGTON

Harvey had thought that he had known how things would end up going when he and his brothers got to Hogwarts. Their family had all been in Slytherin for generations so it had been expected that it would be exactly the same for the three of them but it hadn't worked out that way. Instead Cory had been sorted into Gryffindor and nothing had been the same since then. Harvey couldn't deny that he hated the way things had worked out, he knew deep down that Gryffindor was the right house for his brother but on more than a few occasions he had found himself wondering if the upset it had caused was really worth it. Their other brother still had a strained relationship with Cory to this day and their parents weren't much better. Nothing had turned out the way he had thought it would and his seventh year seemed to be going much the same way. Harvey had no idea who the Enlightened were but they had certainly thrown the world into chaos and what they had done couldn't be taken back. He had always thought that it might be better if muggles knew about magic but there was a right way and a wrong way to go about doing things and the Enlightened had certainly done things the wrong way. They had showed muggles that they were powerless to stop magic from taking their lives but there were things in the muggle world that could kill all of them as well so it wasn't all one sided. Not a day went by when there wasn't another report about an attack on a magical family and Harvey knew that things weren't going to get better anytime soon. He didn't know whether his parents were involved or not but he honestly hoped that they weren't that stupid. His family had been supporters of Voldemort during his time and he knew that his parents' views hadn't changed at all but Bellatrix spending so much time locked away in Azkaban should have taught them something at the very least. There were students and staff at Hogwarts who were perhaps involved with it all or at least knew people who were but Harvey definitely wasn't among them. That didn't matter to some people though, they heard the name Lestrange and assumed that he would be right there in the thick of whatever awful thing was going on and nothing he said would ever change their minds about that.

That didn't mean that he was just going to let them get away with doing whatever they wanted to do, though. One of the other students had tried to curse him while his back was turned and there was no way that Harvey would have ever let him get away with that. Harvey might not have been able to talk his way out of a detention that time around but it had been worth it to put the other boy in his place and send a message that he wasn't to be messed with. Harvey had a feeling that it probably wouldn't stop others from trying but with any luck that boy would have learned his lesson and his friends hopefully would as well. Right now the last thing he wanted was to have to deal with anyone else who was going to annoy him so he had sent the first years packing but the voice that came next was a welcome one at least. "Clearly some people can't take a hint but I guess it could be worse," Harvey shrugged. Detentions were boring and there was so much that he could be doing with his time if he didn't have to endure a detention but so far he hadn't been made to do something that he was really against doing and the truth was that he really didn't care how many detentions were noted in his record. Opening his eyes at last, Harvey let his gaze meet Elaine's. "It was Professor Belacqua who broke up the fight and he just had me clean out the Artefact Room. I think by this point I've done just about everything they can think of in these detentions, they're not even trying at this point," he said, his tone sounding as tired by it all as he felt right now. "It's still a few hours of my life I'm not going to get back but with the accusations the guy was flinging around he deserved everything he got so it was worth it," he added. "Did anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

ELAINE MACKENZIE WARRINGTON

Before the Enlightened went and ruined everything, there was a part of Harvey that had been looking forward to finishing his education at Hogwarts and doing something else with his life. He had classes that he did well in but there were others that he struggled with and that was how it had always been. Cory had always been better at the whole school thing than he was and Harvey was pretty sure that that was never going to change. Most of his time these days especially seemed to be spent fighting and the truth was that he hated it. Harvey was good at fighting, that couldn’t be denied, and he only did so when he absolutely had to but lately more and more students seemed to be taking it upon themselves to start a fight with someone they were apparently certain was involved with the Enlightened. It didn’t matter how many times he tried to tell them that they were wrong, they just didn’t want to hear it. Whether his parents were involved or not was a different matter entirely but Harvey wasn’t and he knew that he would never join their cause. The way they had exposed magic to the world was barbaric and even though he agreed with them to an extent that they shouldn’t have to carry on living in the shadows the way they had been all along, he knew that he was never going to agree with their methods. There were much better ways to go about it without throwing the whole world into chaos and Harvey knew that it was going to have a huge impact on his seventh year at Hogwarts. All of the students were tense and understandably so but that didn’t mean that they should be taking it out on him the way that some of them were.

As it was he had served his time in detention and now he was free to do whatever he wanted to do with the rest of his day. Thankfully most of the students in his house seemed happy to keep their distance either because they believed the rumours that he was involved with the Enlightened or they just saw that he wasn’t in a good mood after being in detention but whatever the reason he was grateful. Elaine, on the other hand, was one of the few people he was happy to spend time with so he was glad that she hadn’t decided to keep a distance like everyone else. “You would think so but I guess they have to be seen to be doing something since they haven’t expelled me,” he shrugged. Deep down he was glad about that because he hadn’t wanted to end up washing out and being a loser who couldn’t do anything with his life. He knew that school was never going to be his whole world the way it was for some people but it at least wanted to get the grades he needed to make sure that he was able to do what he wanted to do after graduation and he wasn’t going to let anyone stop him from doing that. “My parents probably would have been most disappointed that they got out of the fight with all of their limbs attached,” Harvey nodded. His parents seemed to think that it was important to stay true to the Lestrange name and he knew that he wouldn’t be surprised if that was why they had been willing to kill their own son after Cory was sorted into Gryffindor. Their reputation meant everything to them and they wouldn’t let anyone tarnish it so in a way he was glad that they wouldn’t find out about this. “That probably would have been more fun, perhaps I should try that next time,” he conceded. He knew that he wouldn’t actually do that though as it really would be a sure fire way of getting himself expelled and he really wasn’t interested in that. “That doesn’t bother me, they keep their distance anyway. Just one glare is enough to send them packing,” he chuckled. “I’m more interested in you, what have you been up to?” he asked. There had always been something about Elaine that intrigued him, she was beautiful and in a way the two of them were quite alike so she was one of the few people at Hogwarts that he liked to be around.

ELAINE MACKENZIE WARRINGTON

Harvey knew that there were probably plenty of people who wanted him out of Hogwarts but so far he hadn’t done anything bad enough to get himself expelled and for that he really was glad. If he was honest most of the fights he ended up getting into weren’t even his fault, if someone said something to him and expected him to just let them get away with it then they were sadly mistaken and he knew that he would always stand by Cory and stick up for him as well. Harvey knew that he would never forget the way that his parents had been so willing to get rid of Cory so that he wouldn’t disgrace the family any further as they saw it but he had yet to confide in anyone about it. Not even his brothers who were the two people he was closest to knew what had happened, instead he had been carrying that burden around by himself and he would be lying if he said that it wasn’t taking a toll. He would be surprised if it wasn’t the reason why he was so quick to anger, or part of the reason at least, but it was too late to change anything now. Right now his seventh year had started and he knew that he just wanted to make it through the year without getting expelled if he could. Seeing Elaine around the school was definitely a bonus, he had never been afraid to flirt with girls and he’d had his fair share of one night stands but she was different. She was the one girl he actually liked being around and he knew that he wasn’t ready for that to end yet. “He did but he used the basilisk and pinned it on Hagrid so he never got caught,” Harvey shrugged, remembering one of the few History of Magic lessons he hadn’t been able to block out given his family’s history. He was never as subtle about what he got up to and he was pretty sure that wasn’t going to change. “You’ve got a point about Potter but he was always Dumbledore’s favourite, he was never going to get expelled,” he added. He didn’t have that luxury, in fact he wouldn’t be surprised if most of the professors couldn’t stand him but the truth was that he didn’t really care as long as he made it through the year. “I guess this is their way of being seen to be doing something even if it is just a huge waste of time,” he added with a shrug. “Good to know you care though,” he said, a smirk forming on his face as he looked over at Elaine.

“I guess it’s lucky that I don’t care what my parents think. I don’t want to be anything like them,” Harvey muttered, more to himself than to Elaine. He had never spoken out against his parents in front of her before but with everything that had happened and knowing what his parents were like he really wouldn’t be surprised if they were involved with the Enlightened. Harvey was being given a hard time because the other students suspected that he was involved with them but that couldn’t be further from the truth. He had no interest in causing chaos like the Enlightened had done and he hoped that in time the people around him would start to realise that and things would begin to settle down. “It’s sounding more tempting by the minute,” he smirked. Over the summer he and Cory had ended up practicing duelling so that they could stay on top of their game but any extra practice was always going to be welcome. As Elaine spoke again, Harvey couldn’t help but laugh. “Is that your way of saying I have good taste?” he chuckled. Elaine had been someone he had often found himself drawn to during his time at Hogwarts and he would be lying if he said that he hadn’t thought about something more happening between them but the truth was that she was one of the few people he liked being around and when his flings ended it wasn’t always on good terms so he knew that he didn’t want that to happen with her. “Believe it or not I’ve been thinking about staying on as well but I’m not sure if they’d let me,” he shrugged. He wouldn’t be surprised if most of the professors were just counting down the days until his seventh year came to an end but ambition was one of the things that had landed him in Slytherin in the first place and contrary to popular belief he wasn’t afraid to put in the hard work to get what he wanted when it really mattered. As Elaine said that he should entertain her somehow, a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “What have you got in mind?” he asked, an eyebrow raised as he looked over at her.

ELAINE MACKENZIE WARRINGTON

Harvey knew that there were plenty of people at Hogwarts who probably wanted him to leave and never darken their door again but the truth was that he was content where he was right now. The alternative was being back at home with his parents and that was something that he didn’t like doing if he could help it. It wasn’t as bad with his brothers there but when their other siblings were around he always had to put on an act that nothing was wrong and it was exhausting to say the least. He had never told anyone what he had heard his parents planning to do to Cory that first Christmas after he was sorted into Gryffindor and the truth was weighing down on him heavily. He knew that he shouldn’t let it, after all he had managed to talk his parents out of it by threatening to leave if they did anything to his brother, but any time something happened to Cory Harvey always found himself wondering if his parents were somehow behind it and he couldn’t wait until they were old enough and had enough money to get out from under their parents’ control once and for all. Until then all he could do was take it one day at a time and unfortunately most of those days at the moment seemed to involve one fight or another. “That’s true, subtlety isn’t one of your talents,” Harvey teased, a smirk forming on his face as he looked over at Elaine. She always seemed to take pride in everything that she did and it was one of the things that he admired about her. With Harvey it never mattered whether he took credit for something or not, no matter what he did word still seemed to spread around Hogwarts like wildfire so he had learned a long time ago to just own his actions and face whatever consequences might end up coming his way. He had never gone as far as killing anyone and he had no desire to do so but he had ended up putting more than a few students in the Hospital Wing so it felt like a miracle that he hadn’t been expelled but it was something that he knew that he wasn’t going to take for granted. Harvey didn’t often start the fights but he was pretty good at finishing them at this point.

“I’m with you on that one. I can see where sucking up would have its advantages but just the thought of it makes my skin crawl,” Harvey admitted. He knew that the professors would never believe that he was being sincere if he tried it anyway, they had all thought they’d had him pegged from the first day he stepped through the front door. He couldn’t really blame them, after all his parents had gained a terrible reputation for themselves and they were slippery enough to make sure that nothing stuck to them. Harvey didn’t want to be anything like them and he was doing his best to make sure that he wasn’t but it wasn’t always easy. “To be honest that might not have been such a bad thing. Snape was playing a dangerous game by getting close to Voldemort, keeping an eye on Malfoy and feeding information back to Dumbledore. I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t want to get into the middle of any of that.” Harvey knew that his parents had supported Voldemort before he’d died but their beliefs weren’t his and he never would have wanted to find himself forced into following someone that he didn’t believe in. It was bad enough having the other students thinking that he was involved with the Enlightened despite his protests that he wasn’t. He had no idea if the professors thought the same thing about him but some of them seemed to be giving him the benefit of the doubt at least so that helped. “Well, I’m glad I keep you so entertained,” he chuckled. “Perhaps next time I should get someone else to take the blame for me and spare me the trouble,” he added with a grin.

Harvey knew that he probably shouldn’t have said what he had done about his parents, to everyone else he tried to make out that he was the dutiful son who would stand by his parents in all but their beliefs but that couldn’t be further from the truth. After learning what they were truly capable of he had started putting on an act to hold up his end of the bargain and continue the family name but he essentially felt like he had lost his parents that day and it had been like that ever since. “You have no idea what they’re really like, no one does,” he sighed. Again he knew that he shouldn’t be saying that but he just couldn’t help it. Elaine had always been there for him and she was one of the few people that he could truly talk to. He knew that he didn’t want to drag her into his family’s mess but at the same time he needed to talk to someone about it and he wondered if perhaps she could be that person. He knew that it could end up being awkward since she and Cory were friends as well but the truth was eating him up inside and he knew that he needed to do something about it otherwise he was going to lose his mind just like his parents and he would do anything to stop that from happening.

“I know what you mean, I swear we were never that annoying when we were first years,” Harvey said, shaking his head as he looked over at the first years that had at least engaged their brains long enough that day to make sure that they were on the opposite side of the common room. The first years in the other houses were worst for the most part but it had to be said that Harvey wasn’t overly keen on the Slytherin first years either. They were easy to intimidate though so that kept him amused for five seconds before he quickly grew bored again. “That or perhaps I’ve taken one too many bludgers during quidditch or blows to the head during fights and it has knocked all common sense out of me,” he teased as Elaine said that she was always the best choice in taste, the smirk still fixed on his face as he looked over at her. “Besides, I think you’re a little biased,” he added playfully. She was someone who had been in his life for a long time now and she was one of the few people that Harvey genuinely enjoyed being around and their banter always kept him amused so he knew that he was actually quite lucky. “I’m already sold on the idea of staying on and I don’t think Cory would take much convincing either, you know he actually likes school,” he chuckled. “I guess that’s settled then, as long as I can convince the professors to let me stay on then I will.” Harvey knew that he could just jump straight into a career after graduation but he knew that he didn’t want to do that. He wanted to take his time and make sure that he was as prepared as he could be so staying on seemed like the best way of doing that. “I can’t let you stay on without me anyway, I know you’d miss me too much,” he added with a grin.

Harvey knew that he was entering dangerous territory as he asked Elaine what she had in mind as a way of him entertaining her and he couldn’t deny that his mind went somewhere that it probably shouldn’t. Elaine was his friend, one of his best friends in fact, and she was also one of the few people that he could stand being around for more than a few minutes at a time which was incredibly rare. She was so much more than that, though, and the truth was that he always tried to ignore the spark there was between them but as she moved so that she was straddling his lap his hands fell to her waist automatically and he had to resist the urge to kiss her. That was something that he had thought about so many times and her next words didn’t help matters either. As it was Elaine offered up a few suggestions about what they could do and his expression turned thoughtful for a moment. “What if I actually wanted to take you up on the first option?” he asked, his eyes meeting hers as he spoke. One night stands were the norm for Harvey, he never let anyone get close to him on an emotional level but Elaine was already there anyway and he couldn’t deny that he often found himself wondering what it might be like to be with someone he genuinely cared about. He knew that he shouldn’t risk it with Elaine given how strongly he felt about her but having her close like this was making it hard to resist. “The third option sounds pretty good as well, anything to get away from the prying eyes and whispers,” he added, bringing his hand up and running the backs of his fingers lightly down her cheek in a surprisingly gentle gesture for him as Elaine brushed his hair away from his forehead.

ELAINE MACKENZIE WARRINGTON

“I can’t imagine you ever being subtle to please someone. This suits you so much better,” Harvey assured her. He had always appreciated her honesty although he knew that not everyone felt that way. He had seen the way that some of the other students looked at her when she told them what she really thought and he sometimes tried to hide his amusement but most of the time he didn’t bother. He and Elaine had known each other since their first year at Hogwarts and even though there were people who had come and gone from Harvey’s life during that time he was glad that Elaine had ended up sticking around. She was one of the few people at Hogwarts that he actually liked being around and no matter what he did it never seemed to put her off spending time with him either. He knew that he was a source of amusement for her but it wasn’t in a bad way, she cared about him just like he cared about her and he was pretty sure that that wasn’t going to change. Their families were alike in some respects but different in others and to this day Harvey still didn’t understand how his parents had managed to evade punishment when the Death Eaters were rounded up following Voldemort’s defeat. Even now they seemed to have a way of covering their tracks no matter what they ended up doing but that was something that he had grown used to over the years.

Harvey wasn’t sure that he would ever be able to hide things the way his parents did but he was doing a pretty good job at keeping what his parents had wanted to do with Cory after he was sorted into Gryffindor to himself. He hadn’t told anyone about that but he would be lying if he said that it wasn’t weighing down on him. He was starting to think that sooner or later he was going to have to come clean to Cory about it all but Harvey knew that he at least wanted them to get through their seventh year and get out of their parents’ house before he told him. Once they graduated he really wasn’t sure what their parents would do, it would be much easier for them to get rid of Cory then if they wanted to when there were fewer prying eyes around and he knew that he needed his brother to be careful when that time came. Until then Harvey knew that he just wanted to take it one day at a time and try to make it through his remaining time at Hogwarts without getting expelled. So far the worst he’d had to endure was more detentions than anyone else ever had according to Professor Belacqua but no steps had been taken to kick him out of Hogwarts and for that he truly was grateful. There were some professors who seemed to see that he didn’t tend to start the fights he ended up being involved with, he just had a talent for finishing them most of the time. “You and me both although I’ll take detentions from the professors who don’t seem to mind me too much over the ones who hate me and my family any day,” Harvey nodded. There were some professors who seemed determined to make his life hell but others were more lenient and for that he was truly grateful even if it meant that he had to face a mind numbing detention that was nothing more than a waste of his time.

“It looks like that’s something our parents agree on. Mine kept on raving about Snape and how he got them through their NEWTs with flying colours but they didn’t seem to want to accept that he turned on them either. I guess they all only see what they want to see,” he shrugged. “Some of the things he did weren’t great but I can see why he turned on Voldemort. He lost the woman he loved, that makes people do crazy things,” he added. That was the reason why most people did crazy things it seemed but when loving someone that deeply that was something that Harvey could definitely understand. Harvey wasn’t sure that he would ever be able to do what Snape did though, playing both sides wasn’t something that Harvey was very good at and he knew that he didn’t want to get used to that either. As Elaine said that they should let someone else take the fall for him next time, Harvey couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m in. Who do you think we should pin it on?” he asked, curious as to who her thoughts were. He knew that chances were it wouldn’t work but it was something that they could still joke about anyway. Harvey had always been pretty good at owning his actions and accepting the consequences but just for once he knew that it wouldn’t be a bad thing to let someone else get into trouble rather than him.

As Elaine spoke again, Harvey’s expression softened somewhat. “Thanks but I don’t think I could do that. It would mean you’d have to keep a secret from Cory and that wouldn’t be fair on you,” he said gently. “I do appreciate the offer though.” He knew how much Cory and Elaine both valued their friendship and it was something that Harvey just couldn’t let them put in jeopardy. Elaine’s next words were enough to have Harvey laughing. “Now that’s more like the Elaine I know,” he chuckled although he could tell from the look on her face that she had actually meant her earlier words. He wanted to talk to someone about what his parents had been preparing to do so much but he couldn’t risk Cory finding out, not yet, and he didn’t want to put Elaine in that position either so he knew that he needed to keep his mouth shut.

Needless to say he was grateful for the change of topic and a smirk touched his lips as he looked around the Common Room for a moment. “I don’t think any of them could ever follow in your footsteps. You’re one of a kind, Warrington,” he teased. None of the first years seemed to even come close so he wouldn’t be surprised if Elaine only ended up wasting her time trying to train a protégé. He wouldn’t try and stop her if it was something that she decided to do though but it wasn’t something that he was ever interested in doing. “I know you can see I’ve got more than my looks going for me, otherwise I’d just be another dim-witted Slytherin and you could have grown tired of me after five minutes,” he smirked. There were those in their house who didn’t seem to have two braincells combined but Harvey knew that he wasn’t one of them and he was glad about that. He wasn’t the best when it came to his classes, not by a long shot, but at the end of the day he tried and he was determined to do well enough to get into the Auror training program after graduation so he was doing his best. “If you say so,” he chuckled, knowing that Elaine would always be biased in that regard but for good reason. He was one of the few people that she had kept around but at the same time she was one of the few people that he had kept around so he knew that they were well suited in that regard. “I hope you tell him that next time you see him,” he teased. Cory did like school but that helped as he was often able to help Harvey when he needed it and the Slytherin was never going to take that for granted. As Elaine spoke again, Harvey’s smirk returned. “You keep telling yourself that,” he teased, ignoring the fact that there might be a small grain of truth in her words.

It wasn’t long before Elaine was straddling his lap and Harvey didn’t need to look over at the other Slytherins to know that there were more than a few pairs of eyes fixed on them at that moment. Harvey couldn’t deny that he had first felt a spark with Elaine a long time ago and that it had only grown with time but the problem was that she was one of the few people in his life that he didn’t want to lose so the thought of something happening only for it all to end up going wrong scared him more than he would care to admit. That didn’t stop him from resting his hands on her waist, though, and as she answered his question he couldn’t ignore the way that his heart started to hammer in his chest. Harvey was used to one night stands but this was different, this was someone he actually cared about and he knew that it would be so different to all those other times before. “Even if it meant risking being walked in on by my roommates?” Harvey asked, his teasing tone trying to mark the desire he felt for her. Harvey had thought about it so many times but every time he talked himself out of it because he was sure that it was a bad idea but now he wasn’t so sure. “The Astronomy Tower sounds perfect, much more private,” he nodded as his eyes met hers. “Shall we?”

ELAINE MACKENZIE WARRINGTON