Disclaimer: see prologue
Guide: "Talk", Thoughts, ~letters and other written stuff~
Rating: M for sexual themes and language, slash in later chapters
Warning: lime (if you can call it that) aka little shower scene as a gift for this being the 10th chapter (not counting prologue)! How about reaching the 50th review in return? Possible?
Betas: jointheclub, Makoto Sagara
Update of betaed-version: 29 August
AN: Sorry for the wait but I had to work on my thesis for a while, but since I made good process, I am able to update sooner than I thought, and I wasn't in the mood to do some work this week. The poll on my profile is still open, so vote if you have a preference with whom Hermione should be together with in the end.
Response to a review from jklmon: Thanks for the lengthy review. I know what you mean about liking the rivalry between Harry and Draco. I was debating this point when I started this fic and came to the conclusion that the war made them both grow up. Therefore, Draco is over his childish hate of Harry and both are not friends, but respect each other and can be civil to each other. With Draco being attracted to Harry, while also still wanting to be his friend like back in first year.
-~-~- Altair -~-~-
-~-~-by Still waters are deep-~-~-
-~-~- Chapter 10 – The first Ritual Magic lesson -~-~-
When Harry entered the living room of Room Zero after lunch, Draco was already there reading a book in the left comfy chair. It was not very surprising considering that Draco had headed towards their rooms right after lunch was finished; whereas Harry had sat in the Gryffindor common room with Ron and Ginny for a while, discussing plans for the new Quidditch season and when try-outs should be held.
After placing his rucksack by the second comfy chair, Harry walked over to the small kitchen area, asking if Draco would like to have some tea too.
"Sure," Draco answered, looking up from his book, which happened to be the journal Thothus* Malfoy had written about his discoveries in the field of sexual magic. Draco had decided that he wanted to reread it before he discussed some of the information in it with Harry.
When he'd finished preparing the water to heat, Harry turned around to lean against the counter and asked, "It's weird, isn't it? Knowing that both Hermione and Blaise must have been in our Basic class last period, but not to be able to remember seeing them or anyone else there."
"Mhm, it is. It's funny how I remember that someone had explained the different outcomes of the lubrication charm, according to your power level and colour/flavour preference to us, but not to remember who it was."
"Yeah, but I am sure that it was Hermione who explained that to us. Not only because she would know about it, but because the wording sounded just like her in lecture mode, although I can't even recall if the voice had been female or male," Harry answered, walking over to the coffee table with the finished tea.
After passing one of the cups over to Draco, he went on, "I am surprised that we can actually remember that we have two teachers for this class, one male, one female, but to not know who they are."
"Granger must be devastated," Draco said in a false sorry voice. "To not be able to go to the teachers after classes to ask them questions like she is used to," Draco said, having placed his now closed book in his lap and drinking the tea Harry had brought him.
"Yeah. I just hope that she isn't asking us instead," Harry said with a shudder, before also taking a sip of his tea.
"Before I forget, Blaise asked me this morning if he could have a look at our room. Would this be okay with you?"
"Funny," Harry said with a chuckle, "Hermione asked me the same thing this morning after I asked her about having received a private bathroom herself. Which she hasn't by the way."
"They must get on rather well, when they are already scheming together to have a look at our room," Draco said amused. "But as long as you don't have anything against Blaise visiting our rooms too, I have nothing against Granger coming over."
"If you agree to not tell them about the spell placed on our bed or let them look into the Ritual Magic room, why not."
"Afraid of seeing your friend naked?" Draco asked in the challenging-teasing voice he had used in their previous years when he had been trying to infuriate Harry, while also raising one of his eyebrows.
"More like not wanting her to kick us out of our own bedroom in her quest to unveil all the mysteries of the bed," Harry answered, taking a sip from his tea before he continued. "I am already afraid that I won't be able to get her out of this room, without allowing her to borrow some of the books and promising her that she can read all the others at some time in the near future," he said, his left hand gesturing towards all the books, situated in the shelves of the wall they were currently facing.
"We could always try to hide them in the Ritual Magic room," Draco jokingly suggested. "Or if this doesn't help, there are always the whips and what not from the shelves in there left. I am sure a stroke or two will even get her to leave our rooms," he said with a big smile on his face, while trying not to laugh at the mental picture. He was successful with suppressing his laughter until Harry himself started laughing at that image.
"So, how does tomorrow afternoon after Charms sounds to you?" Harry asked, after he had regained his composure.
"Alright with me," Draco answered with a shrug, having stopped laughing too.
After this, they talked about varying things (mainly Quidditch), often laughing about something or another and generally enjoying each other's company. And only when the clock struck 2 pm did they realize how much time had passed. Both of them had enjoyed themselves too much during their talk to have noticed how time had flown by.
I can't believe that our two free periods are already over, Harry thought. It felt like I had been joking around with Ron, only that I felt even more relaxed and at ease ... I wonder why?
Wow, I can't believe that it is already two. But how goes the saying: Time flies always by faster if you are having fun? Which I certainly had with Harry, were Draco's thoughts when he heard the clock strike two.
"We better get going if we don't want to be late," Draco announced, being the first to come out of his thoughts, successfully bringing Harry's attention back to the present.
"So, any idea where the classroom for our next lesson is located?" Harry asked Draco in the hopes that he would know where in Hogwarts the room was located. Harry was not in the mood to be nearly late for class again, because he did not know where to go.
"Not really. It must be somewhere to the left of the Slytherin common room, but nothing more," Draco said apologetically.
"Oh great," Harry exclaimed sarcastically. "How will I be able to be there on time if the trip from the tower to the dungeons already takes about 10 minutes?"
"You could always go through the Slytherin common room with me," Draco suggested. "If you still have your invisibility cloak, this shouldn't be a problem," he added, remembering Harry having been in the possession of such a cloak back in sixth year on the train.
"Good idea. Let me just grab my map and cloak and we can go."
"What map?" Draco called after Harry, who had gone over to his trunk in their bedroom to collect the mentioned things.
"A map of Hogwarts my father and some of his friends created during their time here. I will show you how it works," Harry called back, having decided that not only was Draco trustworthy, but he also felt like it would be right to show the secret of the Marauders' map to his new room mate. Since Harry's instincts rarely were wrong, he didn't see why he should not do it.
So, with map and cloak in hand, he returned to the living room to get his rucksack. Throwing the cloak over him, he said to Draco, "Lead the way."
And so the two of them, one visible and the other invisible, made their way down the stairs, through the male Slytherin door towards the classroom for their Ritual Magic class. Draco was a bit relieved that Harry had been able to follow him through the door, since it could have been that the doors were charmed so that only the Slytherins could go through the door leading to their common room.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-Altair-a life changing event-~-~-~-~-~-~-
"It seems like we are the first pair to arrive here," Harry said, when he and Draco entered the empty room.
"Must be because of the location. Not everyone can possess a map of Hogwarts to guide them here," was Draco's answer, now acquainted with the Marauders' Map and its secrets.
"I can assure you, Mr. Malfoy, that the absence of other students is not due to the location of this classroom. You two are simply the only pair to have been deemed compatible enough to learn the art of Ritual Magic this year," a rather young, female voice with a light accent said from their right.
Looking over, they saw a woman who reminded them of a twenty-five years-old McGonagall, only that this woman had honey blond hair instead of their familiar professor's dark locks. She even wore the same kind of dress robes McGonagall had worn during the Yule ball in fourth year, only that hers were blue instead of green.
"I am Professor Immaculé* and will be teaching Ritual Magic to you," she added when she had reached the middle of the room, where a low table with a tea set on top of it stood, surrounded by pillows.
Sitting down at one side of the table, she poured herself some tea. When Harry and Draco had not made a move to join her at the table, she called them over, "Close the door and sit down here with me. Help yourself to some tea, if you want."
Being nearest to the door, Draco was the one to close it. Then, he and Harry slowly walked over towards the table, settling down on a comfy pillow each, opposite their teacher. They were both unsure what to think of Professor Immaculé. At first, she sounded just like the strict Professor Snape with an accent, but her behaviour was the complete opposite, very open and inviting.
"Let's begin, shall we? I don't know how Hogwarts' previous Ritual Magic Professor carried out this course, but at my old school, Beauxbatons, we always had a rather informal setting," she began, then pausing to take a sip of her tea.
This explains her accent, Harry and Draco thought in the meantime, giving each other a quick look.
"Not only because you won't be able to tell what happen during the lessons to an outsider anyway," she went on, pretending to not have noticed Draco and Harry's exchanged look, "but mainly because Sexual Magic, and especially Ritual Magic, is a rather intimate subject where being comfortable enough around each other to speak openly is always helpful. So, if you have any questions, feel free to ask right away," she said with a smile.
"First of all, there is a reason why there aren't many people able to learn and perform Ritual Magic, even if many assume that more people are able to learn Ritual Magic than Sexual Potions." After taking another sip of her tea, she went on. "There are three supporting pillars for Ritual Magic: self-control, high compatibility and, most importantly, a strong bond between the pair," she said, counting the reasons off with the fingers of her left hand for emphasis.
"Both the self-control and high compatibility are also very important for Sexual Potions, actually even more so than for this art. But, what many forget is that it is even harder to create a strong bond between the partners. Since you were accepted into this course, I gather that you both are still virgins, since otherwise the bond you will be forming would not be strong enough for the means of Ritual Magic." Here, both of her students blushed but nevertheless nodded in affirmation.
"Good," she said, "we will talk about choosing a bonding ritual for the two of you next week when we know how strong your current bond is and what Typos Thesis* you are. Afterwards, you will bond before the subsequent lesson. Until then, make sure that you stay virgins until the bonding ritual is completed because otherwise you won't be able to continue with this class," she stated with a firm look. "But, today, I will simply continue to inform you about important aspect of Ritual Magic."
Here, Harry interrupted her with a question, seeing as it was unlikely that she would answer it without him having to ask the question. "Ehm, Professor Immaculé. What do you mean by Typos Thesis?"
"Have you also signed up for Sexual Potions?" she asked him, instead of answering the question.
"Yes, but the first lesson won't happen until tomorrow," Harry added.
"Then you will get a detailed explanation of this term tomorrow, as well as finding out what Typos Thesis you are, since the Typos Thesis plays an important role there. For now, it is enough if you know that it includes your natural inclination towards submissive or dominant and top or bottom."
"Now, back to the topic at hand," she went on, not wanting to explain Typos Thesis in detail. "Most of the rituals require the use of Runes to amplify the magic. If the information I've gotten is correct, only Mr. Malfoy has achieved the necessary OWL in Ancient Runes for this class. Therefore, the two of you are at a disadvantage because only he will be allowed to compose the Runes. So, you won't be able to perform every ritual because of this. But since you only have to perform three rituals of your choice for grading, it shouldn't pose a problem.
"Also, cleaning rituals are important in Ritual Magic. There are many different ones in existence. In the next month, we will talk about the most common techniques for cleaning and preparing for a ritual. And if one of the rituals you chose happens to include a preparation that we haven't talked about, then we can go over it before you do the ritual."
"Any questions so far?" she asked them. When both of them answered in the negative, she talked about some history stuff for the rest of the lesson and assigned them to read the first two chapters of their books as homework for the next week.
"Can I go back with you?" Harry asked Draco, after they had walked out of the Ritual Magic classroom. "I am not in the mood right now to walk up to the tower from here."
"Understandable," Draco answered with a shrug, not caring either way, "but I want to grab something from the kitchen first."
"Alright."
-~-~-~-~-~-~-Altair-a life changing event-~-~-~-~-~-~-
When the two of them arrived back at their living room, Draco eating some of the cookies he had gotten from the kitchen, they settled down in the comfy chairs they had been sitting in previously.
"So, what do you think about Ritual Magic? Is it what you expected it to be?" Draco asked Harry.
"Not really. I kind of expected that because of me not having received an OWL in Runes that we would be a bit restricted but that there also seems to be restrictions by destined positions?" Harry said disbelievingly. He had had enough of destined stuff for a lifetime.
"Understandable, considering your past." Draco said sympathetically. "But for now, all we can do is to wait until tomorrow to find out what Typos Thesis we are and then decide on a bonding ritual next week," he went on, eating another cookie. Leaving before we will be sleeping together in two weeks' time unsaid.
Draco's words made Harry realise that they did only have a limited amount of time before the two of them would need to have sex for the first time. Also remembering professor Greige's words from the morning, he suggested to Draco, "We should start getting more comfortable with each other soon then, if we have to bond in less than two weeks. It is our homework for Thursday's Basic lesson anyway," he ended lamely, fidgeting with the trim of his school robe and trying to justify his words (to himself or Draco he did not know).
"Hmm," Draco agreed. "Any suggestions?"
Silence, then Harry spoke up, "Maybe we can start small? Hand jobs, if this is okay with you?" Harry asked, blushing and unable to look at Draco, choosing to look at the fire instead. Since Harry naturally had already experience in wanking, he thought that this would be the easiest thing to start with.
Draco was surprised by Harry's boldness. He had not thought that he would suggest something which required this much sexual contact. He had thought that even with the Gryffindor boldness, Harry would only suggest some touching above the waistline.
"Okay...," Draco said hesitantly, "but maybe we can also do some lighter stuff like … I don't know ... cuddling maybe? To get used to being this close to each other?" he suggested, trying to not just start stuff out of the blue. Both of them were still virgins and rather inexperienced, after all.
"Alright," was Harry's short answer. He thought that Draco's suggestion would help him to get over the expected shyness and weirdness of the situations to come.
Silence, then Draco hesitantly suggested, "Maybe we can start with both of us sitting together on the couch as a start? I wanted to continue reading the journal from before anyway."
"The one you were reading after lunch?" Harry asked, remembering Draco having a book when he came in after lunch.
"Yes, that one," he answered, getting up from his comfy chair and walking over towards the couch, the journal already in his hand.
"I will read the assigned chapters for Ritual magic then," was Harry's response, fishing around in his rucksack for the course book so that he could join Draco on the couch. When he found it, he went over to sit a bit away from Draco.
"Maybe we should sit a bit closer if we want to get used to being near each other?" With a nod, Harry moved closer to Draco, so that their knees were touching before he leaned back and got comfortable.
And so, the two of them spend an hour reading together, their knees touching the whole time.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-Altair-a life changing event-~-~-~-~-~-~-
When he was preparing for bed in the privacy of their bathroom, Draco casted the cleaning spell on himself, or at least tried to. As it turned out, you had to point the wand at your opening, but then your hand didn't have enough room to do the proper wand movement. I wonder why he told us to cast the spell on either ourselves or our partner, when it is obviously not possible to cast the spells on yourself? Draco wondered.
And I really wanted to have a nice wanking session this evening, he thought with disappointment. Not only was he a male teenager, but also he did not know when exactly Harry planned to go through with the hand jobs he proposed earlier. He did not want to embarrass himself by coming too quickly. Harry was a rather fit bloke after all.
But then, there still is the good old method of casting a normal lubrication charm on your hands and prepare yourself manually. Since I don't know if I'll end up being the bottom, it can't hurt to loosen up my hole a bit. Besides prostate stimulation is always very enjoyable, Draco was musing to himself.
So, Draco casted the lubrication charm on his hands and then began to leisurely move his right hand up and down his cock, while he began to circle his opening with two fingers of his left hand to spread the lubrication around. When his hole was lubricated to his satisfaction, he entered it with his index finger, slowly penetrating the tight ring of muscles. Once fully inside, he let the finger circle around, widening the opening for his middle finger before he carefully added the second finger and began to search for his prostate to stimulate it thoroughly.
His right hand, which until then had been leisurely moving up and down his cock, now started to pick up speed and pressure, as well as taking more care of the slit at the front of his cock, which he enjoyed greatly.
Closing his eyes, Draco was not surprised to see a certain black-haired male appear before his inner eye, having started to randomly fantasise about him since the end of last year and even more regularly after he saw him at Twilfitt and Tatting's and began wondering who his partner would turn out to be.
He imagined that Harry was the one to touch him like this, touching his cock and playing with his prostate. He was standing behind Draco, whispering dirty words like "Aren't you a wanting little whore, Draco?" into his ear. "So eager for my touch." Picking up his speed, Draco came soon with Harry's name on his lips. Thankfully, he had placed a silencing charm on the room in advance to not alert Harry about his little fantasy.
After Draco came back from his high, he quickly washed himself and got out of the shower to let Harry take his turn in the bathroom, who unbeknownst to him also decided to have a nice little wank, especially since he had not gotten to do it in the morning because he feared that Draco could come in at any time. But contrary to Draco, Harry's fantasy only involved a faceless male, not his Altair partner.
-~-~-~-~-~-~-Altair-a life changing event-~-~-~-~-~-~-
Thothus: see chapter 3 for more information about him
Immaculé: French for pure, again I let my dictionary (the French one this time) decide the name of the character and got lucky with the first try again :)
Typos Thesis: Greek for "type of position", according to Google translator
-~-~-~-~-~-~-Altair-a life changing event-~-~-~-~-~-~-
AN2: For the Blaise and Hermione fans: As you may have already guessed those two were not in this chapter because at least one of them was not a virgin before they got paired up. But don't worry. You will see them both again in Sexual Potions next chapter.
Next: Any guesses what Typos Thesis Harry, Draco, Hermione or Blaise will be? Wait and find out next chapter what I've assigned to them.