A/N: a secret that has been hidden for literally sixty-four chapter is finally exposed!! 

Some of Umbridge's Educational Decrees were, apart from downright unnerving and ridiculous, quite funny. Like the Twenty-Sixth, which Umbridge had created after the apparently traumatising experience of finding two seventh-year-students making out in a broom closet.

Boys and girls are not permitted to be within six inches of each other.

Thomas and Ben both had burst into laughter as soon as they read it, while other students truly seemed affected by it.

"What a good time to like boys, am I right?" whispered Thomas between chortles.

Ben's laugh was interrupted by a familiar high-pitched cough from right behind them. Neither of them needed to turn around to know who it was, nor to exchange looks in order to know they both had felt their blood run cold at the same time.

"Have I misheard what you just said, Mr. Stonem?" asked Umbridge.

Ben didn't really know what kind of reaction he had expected from Thomas, since he was quite unpredictable, but it was certainly not him smiling at the woman and saying: "I don't know... Do you, perchance, have hearing problems?"

"Why would anyone even like boys?" she hissed hatefully.

Umbridge's eyes sparkled with such disgust that even Thomas' smirk hitched for an instant. So Ben didn't even think once before replying.

"Are you coming out to us, professor?"

Umbridge turned to him, eyes wide open. "Detention, Mr. Walker, Mr. Stonem," she stated, her eyes flickering around, worried about the possibility of what Ben had just said having been heard. "Meet me in my office, at six o'clock, this whole week."

It was a Monday.

"No, not him," said Ben, the gravity of what he had just said sinking over him suddenly. Umbridge began walking away, but Ben rushed after her. "Professor, please. I'll do double detention, but please don't make him come as well."

The woman didn't stop walking, but at least she acknowledged he was speaking to her, something Ben found surprising. "Why would you do that?"

"It was my comment which made you angry, Professor, and he doesn't deserve to pay for my mistakes."

He had already had enough of that.

"It is only detention, Mr. Walker, don't be dramatic."

"Only detention?" he repeated, letting out a bitter laugh. "I've seen what you did to Harry."

"What Mr. Potter did to himself," she corrected, an innocent look in her eyes.

"You forced him to do it!"

"He wouldn't have been punished if he had behaved properly! And that is also precisely the reason why I will be waiting for you and Mr. Stonem this afternoon."

Ben took a deep breath. "Alright."

He stormed off, and approached Thomas, who had been watching with a very confused expression on his face from afar. "I'm sorry."

"What are you even sorry for?" he frowned. "I'm the one who started this..."

"She's gonna make us do lines," he rushed to say. He wanted him to at least know what was coming. "But with a special quill that will carve them into our skin."

Thomas' eyebrows furrowed, but he simply nodded. "I'll go get you this afternoon, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay."

———————————————

Since he knew what Umbridge was going to do to them, he was mentally ready for it, and he rushed through his homework to make sure he wouldn't have to stay late after detention.

Ron had gone to practise, and Hermione was, as per usual, at the library, so Ben and Harry stayed at the boys' dormitory, finishing some essays.

"Hey, do you want to go for a walk at night?" asked Harry, all of a sudden, looking up from between the books and pieces of parchment scattered all over his bed. "I know we're not allowed but with my cloak and the map, I'm sure we won't get caught."

Shit.

"Look, I- Erm," he began, sitting up straight. "I sort of have landed myself some detentions with Umbridge, starting tonight."

Harry's eyes widened, full of worry. "With Umbridge, you say?"

"Yeah."

He stood up from his bed, and Ben watched as he approached him and sat beside him. "Why? What happened?"

"Have you seen the new Educational Decree?" he asked him.

"The one about boys and girls?" asked Harry. Ben nodded. "Yeah, I saw it this morning, I think it's quite funny... I'm glad it doesn't affect me, for once."

Ben smiled, until he realised that, because of him and Thomas, there was probably a new decree coming. He sighed, and explained the rest of what happened.

"I wish I had seen her face when you said that," commented Harry once he had finished talking. "But, you do realise that you... You might have to do different lines, right?"

He nodded. "As long as she doesn't carve that certain word into my skin, I don't really care. It wouldn't be the first time I get punished for it."

"You should never be punished for being what you are," he said, his voice soft.

"Thank you, for saying that," he smiled at him, then stood up from his bed. "Well... Thomas told me he'd come pick me up so we can get there together."

"We should've gone talk to McGonagall," suggested Harry, all of a sudden.

"We all said the same thing when we found out about what Umbridge had done to you," Ben reminded him. "And you said it wasn't necessary."

"It's not the same..." he mumbled, looking down at the scar on his hand.

"Why's that?"

Harry blinked. "Because I don't want you to be hurt."

"I didn't want you to be hurt either, Harry."

His response wasn't as fast as the previous ones had been. His eyes were still fixed on his hand as he finally spoke. "But you don't deserve it."

Ben crouched down in front of him, to be at his level, and Harry's eyes finally met his. He took his scarred hand between his own, which would soon have a similar scar as well. "Neither did you."

And, before he even had the chance to be nervous about it, he leaned forward to quickly peck his lips.

"I'll wait for you to come back," said Harry in a hushed voice, his cheeks flushed.

"Alright," he replied in the same tone.

———————————————

Thomas and Ben stood in front of Umbridge's closed door for a couple seconds, preparing for what they both knew awaited them. Thomas was simply staring at the doorknob, as Ben checked his watch over and over.

"What do you keep looking at it for?" asked the younger boy.

"To make sure we aren't early," he answered, checking for one last time. "Okay, now it's time."

"Are you sure we can't just blow up her office?" suggested Thomas, lowering his volume as he lifted up an eyebrow inquisitively.

"I'm afraid not," he chuckled, and took a deep breath before extending his arm and knocking on the door.

It opened eerily quickly, and Umbridge looked up to them, a childish smile on her face. "Good evening!"

"Er- Good evening," they forced themselves to reply.

"Come in, Mr. Stonem, Mr. Walker," she instructed, and so they did. Ben looked around at her office, surprised at how different at plain sight it was. Everything was overwhelmingly pink. The surfaces had all been draped in lacy covers and cloths. There were several vases full of dried flowers, each residing on its own doily, and on one of the walls was a collection of ornamental plates, each decorated with a large kitten wearing a different bow around its neck.

"Are those your kittens, Professor?" he asked. Perhaps if he managed to slightly lift up her mood by getting her to talk about cats, she wouldn't be as cruel with their punishment.

"That is right... In a way," she replied, adoringly watching the plates. "I got them done so I would never fully lose them once their time was reached."

"Oh," he nodded. "That is, er- Quite brilliant."

"Thank you, Mr. Walker, now sit down, the both of you."

They obeyed, with Thomas giving him a funny look, which Ben could tell was his way of silently asking him about that weird interaction. He lifted up his eyebrows for an instant, and he could tell that Thomas had somehow understood.

Umbridge handed them both a piece of parchment each, and looked at Ben. "I assume your friend, Mr. Potter, must have told you what this is about, am I right?"

Ben didn't like the tone she had used to refer to his 'friend' Harry. Nor the mere careless mention of the fact that she had punished him as well. He felt his blood heat up, surging to his head. "Yes," he said, giving up his attempt.

"And have you told Mr. Stonem?" she continued to ask Ben.

"Mr. Stonem is right here, you know? Meaning you can talk to him directly, Professor," Thomas spoke up, his voice harsh. "And yes, I know."

Umbridge's eyes hitched in rage, but she soon recomposed herself, and drew a smile so wide it completely deformed her face.

"What are you going to make us write?" asked Ben, breaking the uncomfortable silence with an imitation of actual politeness.

"You see, since I find the topic of your detention a bit... Sensitive, and I, by no means, intend to publicly shame either of you, I will restrain for my initial idea of making you write 'I'm disgusting'-"

"Excuse me, what?" exclaimed Thomas, eyes wide open. "Why would you want us to write that you're disgusting?"

"No, that is not what I wanted. I meant you are, but I just said-"

"So," frowned Ben, and pretended to be writing something in the air. "You are disgusting, then?"

Umbridge shook her head, confused. "I am disgusting."

Both boys gasped at once. "No!" cried Thomas. "Don't say that, Professor!"

"You're really not that bad, Professor," assured Ben, with Thomas nodding in agreement.

Umbridge's previous smile was adorable in comparison to the horrific grimace that her face turned into after that. "I have changed my mind. I do want you to write it. And do NOT try to trick me ever again! Have you heard me?"

"Yes."

"Good. You know what you ought to write, do not make me repeat it," she said, and looked down at her papers.

Ben and Thomas exchanged looks. Neither of them looked too bothered, which Ben found surprising. He, himself, wasn't particularly excited by the idea of getting a new scar, especially one saying 'I am disgusting', although it wouldn't be his most gruesome one. Nor the one to carry the worst memories.

Thomas, however? He had never told him anything about either of his parents hurting him, in any sort of way. He, of course, could've hid it from him, but the moment when Ben had decided to tell him the truth about his family, would've been a perfect moment to say if he had ever gone through the same thing, to let him know that he understood it.

"I thought you were supposed to give us special quills?" said Ben, since Umbridge seemed to be way too annoyed to even realise. "You know, to violate a couple of human rights and stuff."

Umbridge pursed her lips as she took out a long, thin black quill with an unusually sharp point, and placed it on the table. "There is only one for now, due to a recent accident with a young student with a severe lack of discipline. So one of you will have to start."

Thomas chuckled under his breath.

Ben wondered if he truly didn't care about what was about to happen to them, or if he was putting on a facade. Either way, he would still do anything to try to protect him or, at least, delay his suffering.

"I'll go first."

"No, Ben-"

But Umbridge had already handed over the quill, and Ben had spun it around his fingers to take a look at it. "Doesn't it need ink?"

"No, it doesn't."

Ben nodded, and ignored Thomas' whispers as he placed the point of the quill on the paper. He breathed in deeply and prepared for the pain as he began writing. I am disgusting. It definitely did sting, quite a lot, actually, but he refused to look at the back of his hand. I am disgusting. I am disgusting.

He could feel two pairs of eyes set on him, but he forced himself to avoid their gazes. He didn't allow himself to sign absolutely any signs of weakness or pain as he wrote. He was, thankfully, quite good at it. He kept telling himself that he had gone through much worse things, until those words began carrying memories and a very different type of pain, so he stopped that strategy.

He thought of Thomas, and told himself that, at least, he was not hurting right now. He had hopes that, thanks to having made Umbridge especially angry that evening, she would decide to make his turn longer than Thomas'. He wished it was like that.

The pain was getting deeper with every line. It was harder and harder to avoid thinking about it. He thought of every single thing that made him happy. Alycia, Harry, Ron and Hermione, his cats, Marina.

He began daydreaming about what living with his sisters, brother-in-law and nephew or niece (he secretly hoped it was a girl) would be like, and that gave him enough strength to ignore the blood starting to drip against the piece of parchment.

Until Umbridge stopped him, and he noticed it was getting dark outside. "That is enough for today, pass the quill over to Mr. Stonem."

And, without a single thought about the consequences, Ben made sure the quill was at the right angle before pushing it down with all his might, making it look as accidental as possible. And it snapped.

"Shit!" he gasped. "I'm so sorry, Professor, I think it might have been a spasm."

"I thought you said it had stopped happening?" added Thomas, a worried look on his face.

"I thought so, too," he said, and looked down at Umbridge, who didn't seem pleased in the slightest. "I'll fix it-"

He took out his wand, nearly causing Umbridge a heart attack. "No! Leave it, and come here."

So he stood up and walked to her, placing his left under his right one, to stop the blood from dripping onto the floor. However, when the woman stood up, not stopping Ben from towering over her, and took his hand on her own, he was glad to see it staining her thick fingers. His blood was literally on her hands now.

"I believe you are the first student to ever bleed this much," she commented, eyebrows slightly raised. "You seem to have a very strong resistance to pain."

He smirked bitterly. "Lovely little gift from my parents."

Thomas gasped, though he very clearly attempted to hide it between a couple of coughs.

Umbridge let go of his hand. "Well, since there is no quill for Mr. Stonem to use, you two may go. I will be waiting for you tomorrow."

They both left without a word. As soon as they had closed the door behind them, Thomas nearly attacked Ben by how fast he turned to face him. "You. Are. Absolutely. Insane."

"Really?"

"Why did you-?"

"I told you I was not letting her hurt you," he shrugged. "And I don't really know why I said that about my parents... But at least now she knows that physical punishments don't work with me."

Thomas stared at him in silence for some seconds, looking as though he was trying to find something to say. But he soon gave up, and simply pulled him into a hug. It felt like getting into a warm bed after a long winter day, and it made Ben realise how much he actually loved him.

"Erm," said a voice. A drawling voice that undoubtedly belonged to Draco Malfoy.

Both boys glared at him as soon as they pulled away. "What, Malfoy?" asked Ben.

"You two are out past curfew," he let them know.

"We were in detention with Umbridge," replied Thomas.

"Were you?" he asked, lifting up an eyebrow. Until he caught a glimpse of Ben's still bleeding hand, and his eyes widened. "Oh, I see. Well, I won't take away any of your house points, as long as you both head to your Common Rooms now."

"Sure," said Ben, and nodded goodbye to Thomas before going down the hallway.

Not even five seconds later, he heard footsteps rushing to him, and he turned to see Malfoy. "What are you doing?"

"Er- Checking you do go to your Common Room."

He turned a corner, followed by Malfoy. "Wouldn't it be better to check Thomas is, since he's a Slytherin as well and you share Common Rooms?"

"No, because I have way more trust in him than in you."

"That's rude, you've known him for far more than him."

Malfoy scoffed, and began searching for something in his pockets. Ben watched him, and frowned as he got offered a handkerchief. "Take this."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you to bleed to death in the middle of the hallway," he replied. "Otherwise, I might get blamed for it, and it would ruin my reputation."

"Now that would truly be devastating."

"Come on, take it, Walker."

"Thank you, Malfoy." He reluctantly accepted it, and wrapped it around his hand as they walked in silence.

"So, how come she's put you in detention?"

"Don't tell me you're surprised that I was put in detention."

"Not really, just wondering what happened."

"Why do you care?"

"I might be able to get you out of it."

Ben stopped in his tracks, and looked at him, jaw dropped.

"Why are you looking at me like I've lost my mind?"

"Because you have?" he exclaimed. "Seriously, Malfoy, what are you on?"

"I'm not on anything, I'm just offering to help you."

"You would never do such a thing."

"I would, for you," he said.

He stared at him. "Oh, shut up, don't play with me."

"I'm not playing with you, I really think I can free you from detention. I can try to talk to her."

"Could you take him out?"

"Stonem?"

"Yes, Thomas."

"Maybe."

"Can you try?"

"Well, I could..."

He sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

"I wasn't planning on asking for anything back," he said, probably lying. "But, now that you've said it... You know, our High Inquisitor is convinced that your friend Harry is plotting something. And I am convinced that you know what it is. If you tell me, you will not only be out of detention, but you will be rewarded with-"

Without even hearing the end of Malfoy's sentence, Ben walked away. This time, with nobody following.

———————————————

Harry was reading a book with Boots sleeping on his lap when Ben got to the Gryffindor Common Room. However, once he had stepped through the portrait hole, Snowie came running down the stairs, and Boots woke up, allowing Harry to move and stand up.

"Hey."

"Hi," Ben greeted his friend, bending down to pick his cat up. He walked over to Harry, with her in his left arm. "Have you finished your homework?"

He nodded. "Yes, a long time ago. Er- How did it go?"

It only took a movement of his right arm to show him. He winced at the sight of the bloody handkerchief. "It was worth it, though. I broke Umbridge's quill."

"Did you?" he exclaimed. Ben nodded, chuckling, and placed Snowie back on the floor, since she was starting to move around in an attempt to free herself. "Do you want me to help you take care of it? Like you did for me."

"No, it's fine, I don't want you to see it."

Harry's eyebrows furrowed, and he took a barely noticeable step back. "Er- Okay."

Ben wondered if he had sounded rougher than he had intended to. So he cleared his throat, and made sure his tone was softer before speaking again. "Do you still want to go somewhere?"

"Only if you want to..."

"Let's go, then."

"No, wait," he stopped him from walking. "Not until you take care of that."

"No, it's okay, it barely even hurts. Even Umbridge said I have a high pain tolerance."

"That doesn't mean you can be walking around with a bleeding hand, Ben. You need to-"

"The only thing I need right now is to be with you."

Harry sighed. "And I'll be. I'll stay with you, and then we can do whatever you want."

"Fine."

So, less than two minutes later, they both entered the boys' bathroom. Ben approached the sink as Harry, who had his Invisibility Cloak in his arms, leaned against the wall. Malfoy's handkerchief was soaking in blood at that point. How could it even bleed that much?

Anyway, he really didn't want Harry to see it. He didn't want him to find out the words carved into his hand. And he, himself, didn't want to have a cleaner look at it, either. So he tried to delay the moment of having to do so.

He looked at Harry with a smirk. "You know, this bathroom brings back good memories."

Harry rolled his eyes, although the ghost of a grin was forming in his face. "Shut up and clean it up."

"But please don't look at it."

He sighed, but did look away. So Ben unwrapped his improvised bandage and began his task, ignoring the increase of pain at the sight of all the blood. It definitely wasn't normal.

"You do realise I'll see it at some point, right?" said Harry, eyes fixed on the floor.

Ben didn't reply, and Harry sighed again. "Ron and Hermione know, by the way."

He frowned at him. "Did you tell them?"

"No, it was Thomas, apparently. Hermione saw him outside the library with Theodore Nott, and they talked."

"Oh, well," he said. Harry, when you see it, please don't say anything about what it says."

"Alright."

There was silence after that, only broken by the sound of the sink absorbing water. Once he was done, he took out his wand, pointed it at the handkerchief. "Scourgify."

He kept the now clean and dry handkerchief in his pocket, and made a mental note to not forget to give it back. He turned to Harry, who finally looked at him. "Okay, let's go."

They were silent until they reached the corridor, and they had to put the cloak over them.

"Where'd you wanna go?" whispered Harry.

"There's this place near the Slytherin Common Room..." he began, after thinking for a couple of seconds. "I was there with my sister once, and with Thomas as well."

"I have no idea of where that is."

"It's actually not a place itself... I'll take you there."

Stars were shining dazzlingly in the sky when they got there. "Oh, is this where we saw your sister three years ago? After talking to Malfoy."

"Mhm," he nodded, sitting down with his back pressed against the wall. "That's how I found out about here, and I've been coming every now and then, whenever I need to think."

"I see..." he said, joining him.

"I came here when we kissed for the first time," he confessed, not really knowing why. "Then Thomas found me and calmed me down. I'm glad he did, I was terrified."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologise for that, only my parents should."

It took Harry a while to speak. "Did you know they were going to react like they did?"

"I expected it to be worse, to be honest," he shrugged, admiring the stars. "There had been... worse times."

"Really?"

He nodded, and took Malfoy's handkerchief out of his pocket. "You will never guess who lent me this."

"Who?" he asked, curiosity sparkling in his eyes as he glanced down at it.

"Malfoy."

Harry looked up at him, full of surprise. "You're kidding."

"I'm not," he insisted. And turned it around to show Malfoy's initials on the back of it, embroidered with silver thread. "He saw Thomas and I as we left Umbridge's office. And he wanted to make sure I didn't escape, so he said he'd come to the Common Room with me. And then he gave me this, and offered to help me get out of detention."

"You know, I've always thought that you and him had something weird going on."

"What do you mean?" he frowned.

"Well, he doesn't seem to hate you as much as any of us. Or at all, actually."

Ben paused to think, and then turned to look at Harry again. "Harry, do you want to know what really happened between him and I?"

"Do you want to tell me?"

Did he? He had never talked about it. He had never even thought he would. He had spent his whole life trying to forget. But he was sure of one thing: if there was someone he wouldn't mind talking to about anything, it was Harry.

"Yes, I think I do."

"Then I do want to know."

He nodded very slowly. "You're the only person who knows this. Aside from our families, of course. "

"Not even Thomas?"

"Not even Thomas. Or Ron, or Hermione, or Alycia, even."

"Woah, I'm honoured."

Ben chuckled. "Of course, after all, you're my b- Best friend."

There was a glimpse of a knowing smirk on his face. "That's right, I am your b- Best friend."

He rolled his eyes. "Well, you know that Malfoy and I used to be friends when we were kids, right?"

"Yeah."

"So we were actually much closer than what it might seem like. Our parents had been best friends forever, so they were very excited to find out my mother and Draco's were pregnant at the same time. And, when we were born, we would always be together. I really mean it when I say always; there was a time when both our families would live in our house. I remember it being always him, Audrey, and I. She would read us stories at night, before going to bed, and then Malfoy would ask me to make up a different ending, and I would tell him until we fell asleep. Well, you get the point, we were really close friends."

"Mhm."

"Our parents used to find it cute, how we refused to be away from each other... And Ebony once told me that she had overheard them say how they wished I had been a girl, so we could get married and finally tie both families together."

"Oh. Er-"

"Yeah, I find the idea disgusting, too."

"Do you think that, if you had been a girl, you and him would be dating now?" Harry asked, hesitantly.

"No," he replied at once. "I would be dating you."

"Would your parents allow you to?"

"Do they allow me to, now?"

He went silent, and closed the distance between his hand and Ben's, interlacing their fingers together. "So, what happened next?"

The reassurance of Harry's fingers gently brushing against his left hand gave him strength to continue digging in the memories he had spent so long trying to hide from himself.

"Well, everything was okay, until one day Draco and I were playing around, and there was an... An accident."

"Oh, did you hurt him?"

"No, much worse than that," he said, his voice so low it was barely possible to hear. "I kissed him."

Harry gaped at him. "You what?"

"It was an accident!" He insisted, his face so red it resembled a tomato. "I swear, we didn't even know what it meant. We were just mocking how our mothers would kiss each other's cheeks when saying hello- But our parents walked into the room, he turned his head to look at the door behind me, and..."

"You accidentally kissed him on the lips," he finished the sentence for him, since Ben couldn't say it out loud again. He had never felt more ashamed in his entire life.

He nodded very slowly, eyes fixed on their interlocked hands to avoid actually looking at Harry. "They all saw it happen, and I don't even know how to put into words the way they reacted. They asked him what had happened, and, instead of telling the truth, he lied about it. He told them I had asked him to kiss me, and that I had kissed him against his will," he breathed in deeply, trying to calm himself down. "I never saw him again, until our first day here."

"But you once told me that you were supposed to be on the trian with him that day..."

"That was because his parents had changed their minds about me... Sort of. My parents told them that I had matured, and they gave me a second chance to be his friend. A chance I never wanted. But my parents knew I was still the same, only terrified and full of scars. They never believed it was an accident. They thought I was gay, and didn't hesitate to punish me and call me things for it. It was an attempt to take it out of me, although I didn't even know I liked boys, back then."

Then, there was silence. Neither of them spoke, and Ben was terrified that telling him might have ruined it all, so he waited for Harry to say something.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you, Ben," he whispered, finally. "I just hope you know it wasn't your fault, at all."

"Thank you." He smiled weakly, looking up. "And I'm also sorry it means that you've indirectly kissed him, too."

Harry winced. "Why would you say that? I hadn't even thought of it!"

A laugh escaped Ben's lips. "Just... Please don't look at me differently now."

"Why would I do that?"

"I don't know. But now that you know all the truth... I feel sort of defenseless."

"You don't have to defend yourself with me, Ben."

He didn't know what to answer, so he directly asked something he had been worrying about knowing the answer to. "I get it if you want us to go back to being... You know, just friends."

"Look, whatever it is that you and I have, I cherish it more than you can imagine. I wouldn't change it for absolutely anything," he admitted. "And, if we ever got back to that... I'd probably jump off here."

Ben chuckled. "And I'd definitely follow you down."

"Seriously, Ben, please don't think that my feelings for you could ever change because of something that happened to you."

"Just so you know, I feel the exact same thing for you."

Harry smiled, as his cheeks slowly adopted a red hue. It somehow made him even prettier, if that was even humanly possible. He reached out to move a strand of hair away from his face.

"I wish there was a word that carried enough meaning to describe how beautiful you are," he whispered.

Harry looked as though he was panicking, trying to find the words.

"You don't need to say anything, Harry."

His eyes, the envy of all the stars illuminating them, said more than enough. 

A/N: hope you liked baes, any thoughts or expectations of the following chapters?

ALSO IM TURNING SIXTEEN TOMORROW (JULY THE 3RD)