AN: Sorry for the intense lateness. I got a new beta, because I think my old beta had her child, congrats to her, and my new beta just got back to me. We decided to go through all my old chapters and re-do them and my original plan was to update that all at once. But time was passing, so I thought I would post this chapter and with my next chapter I would post the redone chapters. So keep an eye out for that.
With out further ado, chapter 9!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shikiru
"And that's essentially my story," finished Harry. He had just ended telling the horrific tale of his childhood, friends, and betrayal. Like he promised, Draco never let go of his hand. The room was completely silent, no one knew what to say. The first person to break the silence was Tom.
"Harry, I had no idea..." started Tom.
"It's okay, Tom, you couldn't have done anything," said Harry.
"I could have tried to find someone to aid you. I had hoped that you and Draco would have become friends in the beginning..." Tom continued, ignoring Harry's words.
"No, Tom. I had already been corrupted by the time Draco reached me. Weasley already had it in my head that all Slytherins were evil. At that point no matter what Draco said would have gotten through to me," said Harry.
"Maybe I could have tried harder..." Draco thought out loud.
"NO! Everyone needs to stop this! No one could have stopped what happened to me!"
"Except for the people that caused you this pain," said Lucius.
"Well, yes, except for them," said Harry
"Tom can you explain this curse more?" asked Harry.
"You get straight to the point Harry," mumbled Tom.
"Well, originally I was close with James and Lily. I had started to recruit some of the younger generations into becoming Death Eaters. We weren't very large in numbers and I know how passionate young people can get. So, I decided to have Lucius try to get some students from Hogwarts. At first he couldn't find anyone who wasn't originally going to come to my ranks, such as Nott, Parkinson, Zabini, Snape, etc. Then, one day he brings me news of some Gryffindors wanting to join the ranks.
I had never expected Gryffindors. I thought they were fiercely loyal to Dumbledore. So when I asked Lucius if he thought they were going to be spies, he immediately said No. He said he had been watching them for awhile and was positive that they weren't going to betray us. So I asked him to bring them in. That day I gained some of my most trusted followers, James, Lily, Sirius and Remus."
"Wait, they were all Death Eaters?" asked Harry.
"Yes. Since they were still young I never sent them to go on raids or anything. I wanted them to stay close to Dumbledore, try to get any information they could. That was my first mistake."
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
"At the time, I didn't
know Dumbledore was as manipulative as I know now. When they got into
their 7th year, he started to notice something was very different.
That summer they spent most of their time with me. I taught them
spells, potions and more dark arts, but I didn't give them the mark.
This knowledge made them stronger, but it changed them. On the
outside they looked darker, and they were. I hoped they wouldn't let
it show at school, but unfortunately they did. Dumbledore picked up
on it very quickly. He started to have meetings with them, trying to
get information of what happened to them over the summer. Naturally,
they wouldn't tell him and were wary of him. I had taught them how to
bloke their minds off from intrusions. Dumbledore found that out in
their first meeting. After he couldn't get anything out of them, he
stopped asking them to "chat". I thought it was over and so did
they. Then one day at the end of the year, Dumbledore did something I
never though
t he would. I was so naïve, I shouldn't have
let them go..." Tom looked lost in a memory.
"Tom?" asked Harry.
"Dumbledore had found a spell. Like a combination of Obliviate and the Imperius Curse. What it did was completely obliviate the memories of a certain topic, in this case their involvement with me. What it also did was allow him to create false memories, their allegiance to him, for example. He also created the fake prophecy about us to have them fear me even more. Last, he was able to have such a minute control over their actions that they would never notice.
He then told them that because of this prophecy they were on the top of my hit list. He then made sure that they had no contact with anyone whom he was not positive was on his side. I had no way of contacting them or getting some form of message to them. After they graduated he hid them in separate "safe" houses, such as the one in Godric's Hollow. Eventually they grew up and had you. I finally was able to find out where you were. It's true that on Halloween night I went to visit your family, but only to find out what had happened. When I got there, they went into hysterics. Then Dumbledore showed up. He told them that their purpose was fulfilled. He lifted the curse on them, so right before they died they could relive those memories, how they betrayed me, their cause. I can still remember their faces..."
"What about Remus and Sirius? Where were they? And Pettigrew? What about him?" asked Harry, getting closer to tears.
"Dumbledore never even knew that Peter was that close to them. He saw that he would follow them around constantly. But he never thought that Peter was involved in any of this. As for Remus and Sirius, neither of them was even close by when it happened. Remus had gone on a mission for Dumbledore and Sirius was at his home. That was one of the few things Dumbledore didn't take away from their memories. It was common knowledge that Remus and Sirius were together, even if they were constantly ridiculed for it. They truly did love each other. Anyway, while Remus was gone Dumbledore stunned Sirius and took him to the Ministry. He told them that the Potters were dead, except for their child, and that Sirius had given me the information to find them. Sirius never even had a chance to explain anything."
"But what about when he got out? When he was cleared? Wouldn't he have told everyone it was Dumbledore?" asked Harry.
"He had no idea what had happened to him. All he remembered was when he awoke in Azkaban," said Tom.
A chilling silence filled the room. It was a lot of information for Harry to take in at once. Draco tried to sooth him, but Harry seemed to be lost in thought.
"What about the curse Dumbledore placed on you?" asked Harry, just above a whisper.
"It was very ancient magic, I believe. It was a curse that wouldn't allow me or anyone else that I told about this to tell you. Dumbledore knew that the only people that would find out would have gained that knowledge from me, so this curse wouldn't allow me or anyone who knew to tell you. They knew if you died because of this curse that I would kill them."
"Shikiru told me about a prophecy, one about you and I rising together, did Dumbledore know that?" asked Harry.
"Yes he did. He thought that maybe this would make the prophecy void," said Tom.
"Is that even possible?" asked Draco.
"Certainly. If someone prophesied that I was going to have ham for dinner on a certain night, then I could make the prophecy never come true by not eating ham on that night. It's just that most people don't know if they have a prophecy concerning them. So if I didn't know this prophecy, then I would have gone and ate the ham. Does that make sense?" asked Tom.
"Yes, it does," replied Draco.
"Good, are there any more questions? I know this must be a lot for you to take in one say," said Tom.
"Yes, I think this is all I want to hear for now, but tomorrow I may have a few more questions," answered Harry.
"Yes, of course. Draco, would you take Harry to the guest rooms?" asked Tom, standing up from his chair.
"Yeah," answered Draco, also rising, bringing Harry with him.
Draco led a dazed and tired Harry up the stairs and into the guest wing. Once they reached Harry's room, Draco let go of Harry's hand so he could leave him in the room, but Harry grabbed onto Draco.
"You promised you wouldn't leave," whispered Harry into Draco's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Harry, I thought you would want to be alone," said Draco, clinging to Harry's waist.
"I don't think I can be alone right now," said Harry.
"Ok, we'll go to my rooms," replied Draco, leading Harry to his wing.
Once they arrived in Draco's rooms, Draco quickly got them both ready for bed. Harry was in such a state of shock from all this that he didn't even notice his surroundings until he and Draco were in bed.
"I can't believe that my family went through all that because of Dumbledore. I mean, Shikiru briefly described everything to me, but she never got into this much in detail. I never quite grasped how close they were, how much he ruined their lives, my life. It's so much to take in," said Harry.
"I know, love, but you held yourself together very well. I'm very proud of you," said Draco, bringing Harry closer to his body and giving him a kiss on the forehead.
"It's so weird, we've only been together for a few hours and I already feel so close to you," sighed Harry.
"Hmm, that is weird," said Shikiru from the shadows.
"What the hell are you doing here?!" cried Draco, sitting up from his comfortable position with Harry.
"Well, it was boring downstairs so I decided to join you up here. But like I said, it is very weird that you two have formed this instant connection. Almost like it was destined..." Shikiru trailed off.
"What do you mean, destined?" asked Harry, "I thought you said that morphia didn't have mates?"
"Oh, well, see, the thing about that is, they usually don't. It is so unbelievably rare for a morphia to have a mate that we really don't mention it in our little speeches," said Shikiru.
"But there have been morphia mates in the past?" asked Harry.
"Well, yeah, one or two. But these couples were both extremely powerful. They also had some form of connection before one of them was turned. It's usually love, but hate can be a pretty strong emotion too," said Shikiru, looking at the boys.
"I don't hate Harry," said Draco firmly.
"Yes, yes, I know. But at one point you two did hate each other," said Shikiru.
Neither of the boys looked at each other, they wanted to put all that behind them.
"I don't know why I never considered it a possibility," said Shikiru out loud.
"What would this mean exactly?" asked Harry.
"Well, morphia mates are similar to other creature mates. You will go through a bonding ritual, you'll share a bond, and oh yeah, Draco will become a morphia as well," said Shikiru.
"What?! Why would Draco have to become a morphia too?" cried Harry.
"Why are you so angry about that?!" yelled Draco.
"Because I don't want your fate to be decided for you! I don't want you to have to make this life altering decision now!" said Harry.
"Harry, if we truly are mates, then I would never feel complete without you. Even before we bonded I could feel a connection with you. I don't think I could ever leave you," Draco finished in a whisper.
"It's true, Harry, this was fate's work. Neither of you will ever feel complete if the other is not around," said Shikiru.
Harry didn't know what to say. Part of him was ecstatic that Draco and he could live together for how ever long they wanted and would never have to separate. Another part of him was angry that he no longer had a choice in this.
"Harry, please say something," said Draco.
Harry looked at Draco and could see unshed tears forming in his eyes. He could also see the love for him deep in those silver pools.
"I'm sorry I reacted that way, love. Part of me was just angry that fate was ruling my life once again. But I think this time I really won't mind," smiled Harry at Draco. Draco stared into Harry's eyes before leaning down and capturing his lips in a tantalizing kiss.
"Aw, so sweet," said Shikiru.
"Get out!" cried both boys.
"Fine, fine. I can see where I'm not wanted," said Shikiru before disappearing out of the room.
"She's going to be fun to deal with," sighed Draco.
"That she is. Lets try not to think about her right now though," said Harry, bringing Draco's lips back to his.
"I guess I could try," said Draco, before he was lost in Harry's passionate kiss.
