Harry stood staring at Severus Snape, whom he had just been introduced to. He felt something strange around this new character, a sort of pull that was almost similar to what he had felt towards Draco that first night in the woods.
"...he will be your professor," Draco was saying. "As I explained to you before, you can learn everything that is needed for a bonded to know right here."
Harry was still staring at Snape, and it seemed that he was being scrutinized as well.
"What's wrong?" Asked Draco, frowning. "I know he looks a little intimidating, but he has a soft heart on the inside, don't you Severus?"
Snape continued to blankly stare at Harry with no reply. Harry took a step back.
"I feel something weird towards him," he whispered, confused. "Like a pull, like when we first met."
Draco looked puzzled. He waved a hand and muttered something rushed. Harry gasped as two strings appeared in his midsection. He reached down towards them but was unable to grasp anything physical. The two strings, one gold and one blue, seemed to disappear inside him. He followed them with his eyes; the golden one seemed to be attached to Draco and the blue went towards Snape.
"Everything alright here?" Lucius asked as he and Narcissa entered the room. "We came to see how Harry's first lesson was going."
Draco turned towards them silently. Harry looked at the strings that appeared as Draco's parents entered the room, feeling more perplexed. There was a gold string between Narcissa and Lucius and a blue string from Draco to each of his parents. Lucius looked down at himself and the coloured strings.
"Done a visualizing spell, have you? Is that part of the lesson?" He frowned as his eyes fell upon the blue string that was connecting Harry and Snape. "What's going on here?"
Harry gaped. "Why is there a string connecting me to him?"
Snape moved forward and held Harry by the shoulders, too fast for anyone to react. "Tell me the name of your Mother."
Harry stared at the bewildered face close to his own, speechless.
"Hurry, boy!" Demanded Snape, shaking Harry. "Your Mother's name, now!"
"Lily, my Mother's name was Lily," said Harry. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Lily," said Snape, letting go of Harry and slumping down on an armchair. "Lily…"
"Lily?" Asked Narcissa, moving towards Snape, looking at Harry. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," said Harry, frowning. "Why?"
"Lily was the name of Severus's bonded," said Lucius, paling.
Draco pulled Harry back. As Harry struggled, Draco shook his head. "We need to talk."
They entered Draco's storeroom, across from the library that they had all been in, and sat down on a bench. Draco looked at Harry anxiously.
"This makes no sense," Draco said, shaking his head.
"Can you please tell me what's going on?" Asked Harry impatiently.
"If your Mother Lily is Severus's bonded Lily, then there's something that you need to know," he said slowly, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Lily was supposed to be bonded to Severus. They found each other when they were fourteen. They both felt the pull of the bond, and Severus knew right away what the pull meant. She didn't know of course, as no bonded does. They became friends, but Severus never told her about their bond, worried about scaring her off. They were friends for two years, until before their sixteenth, when they were meant to bond."
"I don't understand," said Harry, rubbing his neck. "Are you saying Severus is my Father?"
"No," said Draco. "Before your Mother and Severus could bond, another wiccan came along and performed a binding ritual on himself and Lily. His name was James Potter."
"That's my Father," whispered Harry. "How did he bind himself to someone that wasn't his bonded?"
"He was in love with Lily and she with him. He didn't tell her that she wasn't his bonded and went along with the binding ritual," said Draco with disgust. "After the binding ritual was done, Severus could no longer perform a binding ritual and was thus cut off from his bonded. He never saw her again, the pain he felt was too great. When he felt her death, he went into perpetual mourning. We never speak of it."
Harry stood up, agitated. "My Father would never do that. He must have not known, or really loved my Mother. And this still doesn't explain the blue string between Snape and me."
"Look, I'm just telling you what I've been told about the story. But your Father had to have known, a wiccan always knows his bonded. Stealing another's bonded has been performed a few times in history, but it is looked upon with contempt. It's one of the worst things you could do to a wiccan; stealing their bonded," said Draco solemnly. "About the blue string, well, Severus was meant to be your Father. Even though your biological Father was James Potter, your wiccan Father is Severus Snape."
Harry sat back down, trying to take it all in. This was an impossibly large amount of information. He frowned, suddenly realizing something.
"You told me that one of my parents was a wiccan who'd married a normal human; that that's how bonded are born. But now you just said that my Mother was a bonded and my Father a wiccan. So how can I be a bonded?" He asked triumphantly, as if this one little inconsistency would prove everyone wrong and his Father innocent.
"That's what I'm confused about as well," confessed Draco. "If your Father was a wiccan who falsely bound himself to a bonded, your magic should have still been strong enough to be a wiccan, not a bonded."
"They bonded for love, alright?" Said Harry, hurt. "Stop being so deprecating."
Draco gave him a hard look. "I know it's hard for you to be hearing this about your Dad, but a bond is sacred. Stealing someone's bonded is like taking their soul from them."
Before Harry could argue back, Snape entered the room; he was looking at Harry with guarded eyes. He came and sat at the bench across from them.
"I trust that Draco has related the events of the past to you," said Snape, his voice empty of emotion.
Harry nodded once. He looked at the man sitting in front of him. He was covered in black clothing, his hair shoulder length and neatly kept, his eyes dark and calculative. He'd never seen a picture of his Father, but he was sure that it would have been someone filled with more light. He understood why his Mother had not chosen Severus. Snape must have seen the judgement in Harry's face, because he grimaced.
"I am not here to be your loving Father or some such nonsense. I came here to be your professor, and I'll continue teaching you. We won't speak of the past or this thing between us," said Snape, gesturing at the blue string between them.
Draco quickly waved his hand again, making the ties disappear. Although the physical evidence was gone, Harry still felt an uncomfortable pull towards Snape. He nodded slowly at Snape, and thus they went back to the library to start their first lesson; Lucius and Narcissa were not there anymore.
"We'll start from the basics, the things that you already know of," said Snape, pulling some books and bringing them to the table where Harry and Draco were sat. "The first thing you saw of magic was the binding ritual, so we'll study that first. I'm assuming that you are already familiar with the names of ingredients and how to gather them while helping Draco with his potions in these past few days. Now, do you recall which ingredients were used in the binding ritual?"
"A cotton doll, a glass jar, paper, and a wooden stick," said Harry. He could still recall the scene of the ritual as if it had happened a moment ago. It was after all the moment that had changed his whole life.
"What type of wood?" Asked Snape. "And you are missing the most important ingredients."
"I don't know what type of wood," said Harry blankly. "And that's all the ingredients Draco used."
"No, he also used fire and the existing pull between you two," corrected Snape. "The type of wood matters as you cannot write the binding words with just any stick. The common type of wood used in rituals is beech as it chars the fastest."
"That's not true," Harry said suddenly. "He couldn't have used the pull between us. You said my Father bound himself to my Mother falsely; which means that there was no pull between them."
"There was the pull of love between them," said Snape dryly. "As I said, we will not be discussing the past here, Mr Potter."
Harry frowned as Draco elbowed him. He looked up at Snape's greasy nose and pursed his lips.
"You'll be taking notes on what I teach you," Snape said after a moment. "Beech is used most commonly in rituals."
Harry reluctantly pulled the paper and pen placed on the table closer to him and started jotting down the information.
"Why is that important? I'm a bonded, I won't be conducting any rituals," he said stubbornly.
"Every bonded helps their wiccan in their rituals and you should know which ingredients to prepare," said Snape, ignoring the malice in Harry's voice. "That is why we won't concentrate on the incantations that are used for the rituals; only the ingredients."
Harry looked at Snape exasperatedly, then turned to Draco. "That's more boring than chemistry was."
"Maybe you'll be more interested in the next part, which is the cloaked run that you experienced next," said Snape coolly.
Harry turned towards him, grudgingly interested.
"There are two spells cast together that make it possible," explained Snape, searching through a book, opening a chapter, and placing it in front of Harry. He pointed at a paragraph on the page. "The cloaking spell and the momentum spell."
Harry read the paragraph and looked back up at Snape. "That's all? I was expecting there to be an actual invisible cloak that made us fast or something."
"Hard to please, are you?" Asked Snape. "Very well, we shall move on to what interests every bonded; the spells you can share with the wiccan. For example, shielding from the cold, which is the most relevant right now."
Draco sighed and stood up. Harry followed as they all went to the garden and into the snow. He was only wearing a sweater and soon started shivering. He glared at Draco and Snape who were oblivious to the cold.
"Now hold Draco's hand," said Snape.
Harry looked at him in confusion. Draco sighed and took Harry's hand in his. Immediately, Harry felt a difference; his temperature started to rise. It went on until he was at a comfortable room temperature. Draco let go of his hand, and he started to get cold again. He quickly took Draco's hand, feeling snug and warm amongst the snow. They shared a smile, but it disappeared as he turned to face Snape.
"I'll admit that one is useful," he said unwillingly.
"There are other such spells that you can share with Draco but no other wiccan, since he is your bonded and his magic is tuned to include you," explained Snape as they headed back to the library.
"That is all that we'll be covering today," Snape said, as they reached the library. Study the books I left on the table regarding the binding ritual, cloaked run, and shared spells. Write me an essay on each by tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Asked Harry, gaping.
"Just a page on each," Said Snape, seemingly a little amused.
As he excused himself and left, Harry stood there still holding onto Draco's hand. Draco tried to let go, but Harry still held on.
"You've been acting strange since my friends' visit yesterday," he said, looking into Draco's eyes.
Draco shrugged. "I don't know what you mean."
"You haven't tried to flirt or order me around," said Harry simply. He continued jokingly, "Frankly it's weird. I've gotten used to a certain kind of treatment around here."
Draco sighed and leaned against a bookshelf. "I overheard your conversation yesterday."
"Which part?" Asked Harry, standing in front of him.
"The part about Stockholm syndrome and what kind of hold this weirdo has on you," said Draco, looking away from Harry. "About how you should keep fighting."
"Then you must have also heard the part about me defending you and telling them that I want to make the best out of my situation here," said Harry.
"What I saw was you questioning your feelings," said Draco, still looking away.
"Look, I honestly don't blame you for what happened and I'm adjusting as best as I can," said Harry earnestly. "That conversation only made me realize how much my feelings have really changed, it didn't make me go back to being angry."
"But how do you know that's not the feelings that the bond is pushing onto you?" Asked Draco, finally looking Harry in the eyes.
"Isn't that something I should be worried about and not you?" Asked Harry, amused.
"I want to know the reason behind how you're acting towards me," said Draco adamantly. "I want to know if they're coming from you or the bond."
"Fair enough," said Harry. "But even I don't know anymore. At first it was easy to differentiate between the two, but the lines have gotten blurry for a while now."
"Then let's do a clarity spell," suggested Draco. "It will show your real feelings towards me, disregarding the bond's hold on you."
"You realize that not every problem can be solved by a spell?" Asked Harry, noticing how often Draco seemed to use them compared to everyone else.
"Says who?" Said Draco, already getting ready to cast the spell.
Harry followed him to the storeroom where Draco picked up a bottle with clear blue contents and let a drop of it fall on Harry's hand. The golden string connecting the two of them appeared once more, but seemed to slowly split into two strings. The two strings that appeared in its place were both gold. Harry looked at Draco in confusion, but the look he was met with was amazement.
"This string is the feelings that the bond was influencing in you," said Draco, pointing at the golden string on the left. "The other is the feelings that you are feeling independently of the bond. They are one and the same."
Harry had no time to comment on that as Draco pulled him into a passionate and unexpected kiss.
He pulled back, pushing Draco away. "I was just told that my Father broke a sacred wiccan rule to bind himself to my Mother and now my professor is the man that he stole my Mother from."
"So?" Said Draco, trying to close the distance between them again.
Harry pushed him away resolutely. "So there is a better time for this. I need to somehow figure out if this information is true, and if it is, why I'm a bonded. I have a lot more on my mind than what you seem to have in your head."
Draco looked sullen, but stopped fighting against Harry.
"Fine. We shall summon the ghosts of your parents and ask them."