AN: Slightly quicker update to make up for the insanely long delay…
Warnings Disclaimers and such: See chapter one
'You are closssse. Ssssoon we will ssssee how sssstrong thissss creature really issss. Ssssoon.'
'Yessss masssster. Ssssoon.'
"What? You're still worrying about that?" Draco mumbled, setting the potions book down and turning to better look at Harry who was now clinging to him. "I just…thought of something…so, can the medium be an animal?" Harry asked again, trying to listen for any other traces of that voice he'd heard. Draco paused for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't think so. Animals don't have a strong enough magical signature to support the medium link from what I read in that passage Granger brought. It could technically work with a magical creature, but only a strong one, and even so you'd have to be connected to that creature magically already before being able to even try it since their signature would be totally different from a wizard's. I think you might be able to use me as a medium since we're already connected as mates but other than that…I can't think of anything that might work.
"Oh." Harry mumbled, slightly relieved. "You didn't hear anything before I asked, right?" he added, still weary of the thought of being watched. "Like what?" Draco asked raising an eyebrow, now curious. "What scared you?". Harry lifted his head to glare quickly at the blonde. "I am not scared. Just…confused." The Gryffindor lied. When Draco matched his glare with an equally annoyed one he signed and moved to lie on his back, turning to glance at his mate.
"Okay. Okay. Remember second year, with the whole 'Chamber of Secrets' chaos? Well...we knew it was a Basilisk going in. We figured it out because I, as a newfound parseltongue, could hear his voice through the walls when no one else heard anything. Hermione figured it out from there." Harry started, pausing as Draco interrupted quickly. "But you killed that thing, didn't you? And the chamber was sealed off…" the Slytherin added, his tone more serious now.
"I killed it…but the chamber wasn't sealed off…just closed. It was empty and only Hermione, Ron and I knew how to open it, and from us three I was the only one who could actually do it. I…heard that voice again just now. Not the Basilisk, but similar, and it sounded just like it did back then, which made me think it might be moving the same way." Harry continued, pausing to sigh again. "It's nothing…I mean, I was probably just hallucinating. I haven't slept right in months…" he added, though his eyes betrayed his concern that the voice had been real.
Draco studied Harry's expression for a few moments before speaking again, moving to run his fingers through the other's hair in an attempt to soothe the boy. "It's possible. As you said, the chamber was never really sealed off…and the Basilisk wasn't the only snake available...but…you'd still have to be connected magically to it before being able to use it as a medium since it's not a wizard. Are you sure it was a snake and not someone speaking parseltongue?"
"Yeah. They feel different even though the language is the same…definitely snake." Harry replied with a convinced nod. "Well…then you don't have much to worry about. Besides, we are close to the surface here, it could have been just a snake from outside…you're exhausted so it could have sounded bigger than it was. Just get some rest. It's no use getting worked up when you can't think clearly." Draco tried to reason with him. "You're right." Harry gave in, moving to drop his head onto the other's shoulder again, closing his eyes with a sigh. "Thanks."
"Anytime." Draco mumbled as he reached for his potions book again. "Harry?" The Gryffindor shifted lazily. "Hmm?" came his well worded reply. "If you hear it again…let me know."
The Gryffindor common room was quiet and dark except for three figures sitting around the fireplace. Ronald Weasley looked to the floor as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Hermione and Seamus had been arguing for a while now, but the conversation had died to just a few whispers every now and then.
"Ron. Please tell me you were under the Imperio curse when you yelled at Harry…" Hermione started with a sigh again, watching with disappointment as Ron shook his head slowly. "Naw. I mean, there was this weird voice in the back of my head telling me to be mad at him and getting me all worked up…but what I said…was all me…I can't believe I did that…and to me best friend." the Gryffindor boy was mumbling, looking up for some sort of compassion but receiving only disappointed stares. "Do…you think he'll ever forgive me?"
"You know him. You know he will…but you're going to have to work your ass off at apologizing and especially at being civil to Malfoy now. I'm not saying I exactly like the guy, but he treats me politely so I can do the same. And…Harry trusted him enough to accept him as his mate so…the guy must have done something right." Seamus chimed in, trying to help ease the awkward silence that had fallen over the three.
Ron looked horrified for a second. "But…it's Malfoy…who says he won't turn out like his dad and try to kill Harry?"
"Harry does!" Hermione interrupted, frustrated into raising her voice. "He trusts him. And until now, Malfoy hasn't done anything to indicate otherwise, he's been great with Harry! I know you're worried about your friend…but you know as well as I do that Harry wouldn't commit to anyone if he wasn't absolutely sure…and he did…so have a little faith. Think about it. If you had a choice would you want Harry to be killed or be happy? Why not try your hardest to make the good situation come true for him?"
Harry was almost awake now, still a little groggy as he pulled closer to something very soft and comfortable that he had draped around him like a cover. Feathers. Draco. With everything going on lately, this was the only place he felt really safe. When he finally felt awake enough to open his eyes, he was greeted with gold reflections of the sunlight on his mate's hair, neatly kept and meticulously clean as always. That was one thing Harry found cute about him…he was so obsessive-compulsively clean. "Hi." He mumbled in a sleepy voice, stifling a small yawn as he brought a hand up to pet the blonde hair.
"Good mood today?" Draco mumbled as he raised an eyebrow, watching the other slowly wake. He smiled as he planted a small kiss on his cheek. "It's getting easier to fell…strange right?" the Slytherin mumbled, more to himself as he sat up. "So…how are we going to kill time on your day off?" he asked.
At that, Harry instantly perked up, sitting up with almost lightning speed. "Day off?" he repeated, a wide grin spreading on his face. "Well...do nothing. I mean, have nothing planned…no stupid be there by this time schedule…just…do whatever, y'know?" he mumbled, trying to explain. "Okay. 'Whatever' it is." Draco answered with a small chuckle. With that, Harry stood lazily, moving to the bathroom to take a shower. He actually spent some time making sure everything about his appearance was as good as he could get it to be. After all, he wanted to look alright since he'd be spending the day out in public with Draco. He took his time picking out a dark green button down shirt and grey pants, stopping only for a moment to wonder how in the world he'd gotten so fond of Slytherin colors. He added one of Draco's scarves, spent some time arranging his hear to look somewhat presentable and decided he was ready. As he was about to walk out of the bathroom he caught a glimpse of his glasses still lying on the edge of the sink. He stared at them for a moment until it hit him that he'd forgotten to put them on that morning. He could actually see…without his glasses.
In a split second, Harry burst out of the bathroom, finding the Slytherin on the couch, already dressed and looking great as usual. "I can see." Harry breathed out, completely shocked. The blonde raised an eyebrow, holding back a slight purr at Harry's very sexy outfit. "Was there a time when you didn't?" he asked, somewhat confused. "My glasses….I can see without my glasses…" came the boy's mumble.
"Oh. That. Well…the bond kind of saw that as physical injury and healed it…sorry." The blonde replied, looking to Harry to try to anticipate any sort of bad reaction. "This is…the best day every." The Gryffindor finally spoke out, practically jumping to hug Draco with a happy laugh. "I can't believe I never have to wear those stupid things again. This is awesome. Thank you."
"Well…I didn't really do much, but I'm glad you're happy with the change..." Draco added with a small chuckle. He leaned in to whisper 'you look great' into Harry's ear quickly before kissing him deeply. As they broke off from the kiss, Draco looked to him. "Is it okay, that I do that?" he asked Harry, arms still slung possessively around his mate. "Yep." Harry replied with a grin.
"If you're open for suggestions, I have an idea about what we can do after brunch…" the Slytherin mumbled, a smirk starting to form on his lips.
"Where…on earth are we?" Harry asked, clinging closer to Draco as they started nearing ground again. Draco hadn't told him anything, just snatched him up and started flying, and judging by the speed and agility Draco had gained, Harry wasn't even sure if they were in the same country anymore. "Please don't drop me." He was mumbling, causing the blonde to roll his eyes. "I would never."
As Draco landed smoothly and safely to Harry's great relief, he could only tell they were in some sort of clearing in a strange forest and it was too quiet to be normal. No birds, crickets, belching leeches….nothing. "It should be around here, they're very close." Draco was mumbling. "Uhm…what…exactly is close?" the Gryffindor dared to ask. Just then, Draco let out a low reptile-like hiss, like calling out to something. Harry waited patiently, almost jumping as the strange hisses were returned from the trees around them. "What on earth is that?" Harry breathed out. "Snakes have parseltoungue…we dragons have this." The blonde shrugged.
Harry didn't even have a chance to get used to the news when dragons of all kinds and sizes started appearing from their hiding in the trees, causing him to cling to his mate as they were being slowly surrounded. One dragon in particular started inching closer to them, and he seemed oddly familiar, with orange-yellow scaled and a particularly pointed tail. "This looks just like-" Harry started.
"Norbert?" Draco nodded. "I can talk to them, find them…it's useful…and apparently Norbert's been missing your friend too. He wants to come back with us."
Hermione had decided that to cool everyone down, especially Ron, a visit to Hagrid was in order. Just some tea outside and Hagrid talking some sense into Ron about Draco. As they were sitting next to Hagrid's pumpkin patch, Seamus caught a glimpse of Harry flying in on Draco's back and nearly choked on his tea. "You're not supposed to try to kill him…I didn't even know you could fly!" Seamus exclaimed, causing Harry to chuckle softly as Draco set him down. "Naw. He didn't drop me once…he's safe. Really." The Gryffindor added, choosing to ignore Ron for the time being.
"Hagrid!" he shouted then, going over to hug his large friend, causing him to sputter slightly. "We have a huge surprise." Harry continued, causing Hagrid to hug him back curiously. "You will never guess who Draco found today."
"Well…what 're you two up to? What…oh…" Hagrid started, stopping dead in his tracks as he immediately recognized his Norbert flying in to greet him. The giant ran to him with a happy shout and the scene was comparable to a little boy being reunited with his dog except in this case, both were overly big. Hagrid was so happy that the reunion actually brought tears to his eyes, leaving Seamus, Hermione and especially Ron completely stunned.
Seeing this reunion, Harry was practically bursting with happiness, holding Draco close and mumbling his thank-you's. "Wow." Ron mumbled, seeing his best friend so unbelievably happy. "Malfoy…really makes him feel that great?" he asked, moving to step towards them to possibly say something.
"Yeah." Seamus nodded, holding Ron back when he started to move. "Just…let them be for now okay?" he advised, getting an approving nod from Hermione.
It was almost midnight and Harry and Draco were sitting by the lake, just watching the water move with the slight breeze. "I can't believe you did that…you don't even like Hagrid…" Harry was mumbling, his head leaning comfortably back onto Draco's shoulder, his mate's arms closely around him. "I don't know…it was just a spontaneous idea…I just wanted to make you smile." Draco admitted, kissing his mate's hair. It was nice to have the lake all to themselves like this.
"You…did way more than that. That meant a lot to me. Really." Harry mumbled, moving to kiss him softly. "Out of everyone in the world…I wouldn't pick anyone else to be with right now." At that comment, Draco's heart gave a happy flutter; his Veela side screaming with excitement at hearing his mate say that. Today was entirely worth it.