– –
One change always leaves the way prepared for the introduction of another.
Niccoló Machiavelli
– –
Harry and Lucius appeared in the atrium of the Ministry with a subtle crack that was muffled considerably by the general din that echoed through the large open space filled with so many people. The pair wasted little time in moving forward as, anyone who had ever spent any time in the Ministry knew that loitering in the incoming apparition area was a great way to end up squashed beneath the next person to come in.
Lucius walked with the brisk grace of someone who had trekked these halls many times before; clacking his ornate cane with each of his wide strides. Harry followed him with a bland, disinterested expression on his face, seemingly ignoring those they passed that turned and stared or pointed in his direction.
The reactions were varied among those who took notice of him. There were a few individuals who were scowling rather deeply, but far more common were the looks of surprise or excitement and even a few bordering on awe. People leaned in and whispered excitedly, while others pulled on the sleeves of those near them and pointed to draw their attention.
Harry and Lucius reached the lifts without having anyone actually approach them, and for that Harry was slightly relieved, but it turned out that this streak of luck was destined to end rather quickly. The lift came to a stop on level 2 – Wizengamot Administration Services – and the pair stepped out just in time to run directly into Minister Cornelius Fudge. Quite literally.
"Watch where you're goi–oh! Lucius, pardon me! Things have been outrageously hectic here today, you wouldn't belie..." Fudge trailed off as his eyes slowly fell away from Lucius' face and down, upon the face of one Harry Potter, standing directly to Lucius' left. The Minister's expression that had been the very definition of a pandering politician's artificial smile, morphed quickly into one you would expect to find on someone who was busy sucking on a lemon. "Oh – who's this? Is this... is this Harry Potter? Ah, yes, yes... I had heard –" he trailed off again and his gaze shot back to Lucius and a tight, forced smile smeared its way across his face.
"Cornelius," Lucius drawled in greeting, "What an unexpected pleasure it is to run into you this fine day. And yes, you are correct – this is Harry Potter; my new ward."
"New ward? Yes, I had heard something along those lines. Something about Dumbledore actually trying to gain the boy's custody, actually. Outrageous, really..."
"Yes, quite," Harry added in with a bland smile. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Minster."
"A pleasure... yes," Fudge said with a very forced smile that looked far more like a grimace than anything actually resembling a smile. "You know, young man... you have been personally responsible for a great deal of trouble around here today," Fudge said, pinning Harry with an annoyed, reprimanding, sort of glare.
"Oh?" Harry said back, innocently.
"Yes, oh. That little letter of yours has gotten the public in all sorts of a temper! There have been howlers coming in all morning! All sorts of outrageous accusations and threats. It's been downright terrible, the trouble that one little article from a child can cause. I don't know how exactly you got them to print such a dangerous bit of writing, young man, but –"
"Oh, it was quite easy, Minister," Harry said, tilting his head low and looking up at the man through his fringe. "It's really just a matter of knowing the right people. Surely you understand something as simple as that. Having connections in powerful places can make a world of difference in getting what you want."
Fudge seemed to falter for a moment as if he hadn't been expecting that sort of response, at all. A moment later his expression hardened. "Now look here, Mr. Potter – I don't care how advanced for your age everyone seems to say you are, you are still a child and children should know better than to try and meddle in the affairs of adults! You have no idea how far reaching the repercussions of what you've done here today, are! Do you even understand the trouble you've caused for people!? These are not games that you can just play – throwing around words left and right without thinking of how people might really react! They –"
"Minister Fudge," Harry said with enough force to cut the man off, mid-rant, "you are mistaken if you think that I have anything but the fullest understanding of just what my words could do. I was fully aware that what I've said would cause a great many people – you included – trouble, as you put it. That was my intention."
"Your intention!?" the man exclaimed with a mixture of shock and anger. "Look here, young man – this is not a children's game you're playing at here, this is–"
"Not a game at all. And you might want to be a bit more careful in how you choose to treat me, Minister Fudge, all things considered." Harry said sharply, and Fudge blanched as if he'd been slapped.
The man's jaw floundered and his brow puckered with confusion for a moment. "How I treat you? Do you know who I am? Just who do you think you are!?"
Harry eyed the man for a moment before giving the man a mock-surprised look. "Minister, I'm stunned that a man in your position wouldn't be a bit more aware of just what sorts of political goings on are happening around him," Harry said in a light, condescending tone. "I understand you're busy and have a lot of things on your plate, but you really ought to scold your staff for not making sure that you were aware of just what's happening in the Wizengamot."
"I – what? Of course I'm perfectly aware of what's going on in the Wizengamot! What nonsense are you making up?!"
"So you are aware of how many seats I hold in the House of Lords?" Harry asked with false relief.
"House of – but you're just fourteen! And even if you could use them, I hardly see how one child with a few inherited seats has any right to think himself so important that he can just do whatever he wants without any regard for the consequences of his actions!" he snapped. "I've been doing this since you were in primary school, Mr. Potter, and one arrogant child is not going to make me start changing my policy and the way I do my job!"
"Fourteen."
"That's what I said – fourteen years old –"
"No. I have fourteen seats," Harry said as if explaining something to a small child and then smirked darkly. "All to myself. You really didn't know, Minster? My, you really should do something about your staff. They clearly aren't doing their jobs to make sure you stay well informed of the goings on, around you. After all, the Minister is appointed by proving that he holds the confidence of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. You would think that they'd make keeping track of the goings on there a high priority. Especially considering that next fall is an election year."
Fudge faltered considerably this time, gaping at Harry with wide, stunned eyes. There were only 153 seats in the Wizengamot, and quite a few of those had been dormant for a great many years now. Only about 90 seats were actively voted on any regular basis, and even quite a few of those didn't show up to every session. Fudge knew that, and knowing that Harry, standing before him, single-handedly held 9% of the total number of seats available in the Wizengamot – not even taking into account how many of them weren't being voted anymore, was clearly quite a shock.
Lucius held six seats, and that was considered a large number. Only a few other families held that number of seats, and some of them were dormant, like the Blacks, whose seats hadn't been voted for over a decade.
The House of Commons was made up of witches and wizards elected by the people and each representative stood for their district. The people in each district – magical villages and muggle villages with large magical populations – were able to place votes for the Magical Minister and whatever the majority result for that district was, determined which candidate that their representative member of the House of Commons used his one vote for. But a single person in the House of Lords could use their votes for whomever they wanted, regardless of public opinion. The system gave the illusion that the people had some say in who was elected as Minister but the reality of the matter was that it was decided by the House of Lords.
"F-fourteen?" Fudge whispered.
"Yes, Minister. Fourteen. But as you said, I have not yet reached my majority, and can't personally vote my seats myself. My legal guardian, however, can vote them for me. Thus, it should be obvious why I didn't want to risk Dumbledore or anyone who might be loyal to him, gaining any controlling interest over me. Lucius, however, was far more amenable to an agreement that I could be pleased with."
Fudge's brows raised even further into his forehead with dawning understanding and more surprise, before his gaze flicked back over to Lucius who merely looked on blandly, giving nothing away as to how he were feeling at the moment.
Relief then flashed through Fudge's eyes because he knew that Lucius had always been a reliable supporter of he and his campaign. He'd always made it a point to heed Lucius Malfoy's advice, and give the man as much time as he wanted, whenever he wanted it, because of the power, wealth and influence, the man held. Not to mention the sway he held over a number of the other Wizengamot members – both Lords and Commons. Fudge had gone to a great deal of trouble to stay on Lucius' good side, and if he now held control over fourteen newly reactivated seats – well, it could only help Fudge in the end! In fact, an additional fourteen seats would nearly hand him the election. He would hardly have to lift a finger if he could guarantee those votes along with those he already felt secure in their loyalties!
"In fact, Minister, Mr. Malfoy and I are on our way to the Wizengamot Administration office right now, to assign a party affiliation to my seats. I've already filled out the proper paperwork to give Lucius permission to vote them, but this part has to be done in person, since only I can ever do it," Harry went on.
"Ah – yes, yes. Oh, a party affiliation, you say? I dare say your seats have probably remained dormant since your parents' unfortunate death, but before that time they were... Whig seats, I would guess?" Fudge said.
"Mmm, the ones from my father definitely were. The ones that were willed to me by various other individuals are a bit of a mix, but most of them were Whigs the last time they were registered with a party affiliation."
"And now they'll be – ?"
"Cavalier, of course," Harry said with a small dip of his head and a grin.
"Ah... ahhh..." Fudge said once and then much slower the second as a few cogs began to turn in his head. "Fourteen new seats registered as Cavalier...?"
Harry's grin slowly grew wider as Fudge put the pieces together.
"My... that means that... the Cavaliers will become the new majority. Dumbledore's position as Head of the Wizengamot will be stripped! And the Cavalier leader is –" His head snapped to the side and he gazed at Lucius who was now smirking, quite smugly. "The Cavalier leader will be the new Head of the Wizengamot," Fudge whispered.
"That is – correct," Lucius drawled with smug satisfaction.
Harry smirked up at him before turning his gaze back to Fudge.
"Since it is my seats and my choice alone to designate of them as Cavalier, that is giving Mr. Malfoy the opportunity to finally gain such a position of power, he and I made an agreement of sorts," Harry said drawing back Fudge's stunned gaze. "The agreement is simple – I have total control over how my votes are voted. Always. Even if we were to disagree on something, it doesn't matter – my seats will still be voted the way that I want them to be voted, and he goes on voting his own seats however he wants, but now also has the added power wielded by the Head of the Wizengamot. We both benefit – Mr. Malfoy gains the position of power he wants, and I get control over my seats earlier than I would have otherwise. Early enough, in fact, to vote in the next election for Minister – fancy that?"
"Yes... I see..." Fudge said in a stunned whisper and the light of dawning horror began to flicker in his eyes.
"So perhaps now, Minister, you can see a bit more clearly just why you might not want to toss aside the validity of my opinion so quickly. Even though I may be young – I am hardly stupid, Minister Fudge.
Fudge nodded his head very slowly as his mind whirled over just how awful this could potentially be for his campaign. Finally, he snapped his mouth shut, having just realized he was gaping like a fish, and twisted and turned around, checking the empty hall for any observers. He was no doubt relieved that this particular level was rarely used when the Wizengamot wasn't in session, but he still pulled out his wand and with an obviously practiced grace, erected a local-area privacy ward around the three of them. He turned his gaze back on Harry and his expression was far more determined now.
"What do you want, Mr. Potter?"
"What do I want?" Harry asked with mock surprise, "I think I made that fairly clear in my letter to the Prophet."
"But – but that's just – it's just not feasible! We can't just start letting people teach their children whatever they want, whenever they want it! There has to be some sort of order!"
"Decriminalizing underage magic is only the beginning, Minister," Harry said, smirking up at him. "I want magical primary schools, and early introduction of muggleborns."
"Primary schools?! Early – m-muggleborns?" he sputtered before glancing over at Lucius with an incredulous expression on his face.
Lucius turned his head slightly to the side with a slightly displeased, but otherwise disinterested, expression on his face.
Fudge turned back to Harry. "Well that's all well and good to just say you want it, Mr. Potter, but things like that are complicated and the proper processes must be followed to enact such drastic changes!"
"During the winter session, Madam Hodges early-youth education bill was passed – you are familiar with it, aren't you?"
"I've – I've heard of it, of course! I'm not familiar with all of the details, precisely, but I believe it had something to do with early literacy programs or some such thing. What does that have to do with this?"
"Well, as it just so happens, it has been a long-standing problem that each year, anywhere from one to ten, first years enter Hogwarts nearly, if not completely, illiterate because their parents refused to send them to a primary school where they would have to learn side-by-side with muggles, and taught a purely muggle curriculum. Many magical families keep their children at home or band together for small neighborhood schools run out of one witche's home, but there are always those that can't afford even that, and so their children go without a proper fundamental education. Madam Hodges bill proposed the founding of three small primary schools in magically-dominated villages that would only accept magical children.
"The curriculum proposed is mostly inline with the education standards of the muggle schools, but these schools would also include a section on magical history. Hopefully this will serve to make up for some of the astonishingly abysmal history marks Britain's children have continually suffered since Hogwarts' History of Magic professor died but retained his teaching position.
"The bill is already through and the funding and budget has already been established for the three new schools. Construction has already begun on the one in Whiltshire, and the one in Devon near Ottery St. Catchpole is scheduled to begin construction in two months. It would be a very simple matter for a introductory children's magic class to be added to these three schools."
Fudge gaped at him in astonishment.
"And Lady Samantha Bridges introduced a bill during the winter session that will be voted on during the summer session to increase the funding to the Department of Muggleborn Identification and Affairs, since it has been horribly underfunded for years now – so much so that they have trouble keeping track of the incidences of underage magic performed by muggleborns, that might draw enough notice from muggles to warrant memory modification. I would like to introduce an amendment to the bill that would expand the department even further to the point where it is responsible, not just for the identification and monitoring of the muggleborn children, but the introduction of their parents to our world, when the children are only a few years old.
"Education programs for the parents so that they know what their children are; what they can do; what their accidental magic outbursts actually are, and of course, making sure that their children are educated in our ways by attending the primary schools being built. In addition to that, I want the Department of Magical Children's Welfare and the Aurors to gain the authority to remove children from their homes should evidence arise that their muggle parents or guardians are grossly mistreating their magical offspring due to fear or a lack of understanding."
Fudge's face went almost completely devoid of color at this last statement. "The Whigs would never stand for such legislation. They would be up-in-arms the moment they caught wind of any legislation that authorized the removal of magical children from their muggle parents!" Fudge hissed in an almost fearful, warning, tone.
"I know, Minister," Harry said reassuringly. "I have plans for that – don't you worry. It's not something I intend to move on right away anyway. Next winter's session at the earliest, but it's more likely that the first moves in that direction won't take place until next summer. I'm more interested in getting the magical education program in the new schools started right away. It's all setup, nice and clean, already, Minister. You just have to lend your support."
Fudge pinned Harry with a rather shocked look as if he were seeing Harry for the first time. No doubt the man was wondering at the possibility that Harry himself, could have been behind either of those bills he'd just described. The mere idea seemed ludicrous – Harry was only fourteen after all, and Madam Hodge's bill had been in the works for at least a year by this point.
Fudge's expression hardened and he frowned rather deeply at Harry. "Magical Great Britain's law enforcement relies very heavily on wand control, Mr. Potter. I cannot say with any certainty that what you suggest would be in the best interested of the realm, no matter what it is that you want. The people may have gotten themselves into a tizzy right now over your article, but that won't necessarily last!"
"Oh, I assure you, Minister – I will not let the issue die," Harry said, dipping his head and looking up at fudge over the tops of his glasses and through his fringe with a fire in his eyes that promised what he said. "The laws in place right now were enacted a very long time ago – long before your administration came into power, and you cannot rightfully be blamed for the way things are. You can be held publicly accountable for standing in the way of progress. But you can also be hailed as the leader that stood up for the rights and the demands of the people, rather than holding fast to an old arrangement that only benefited those in power at the detriment of the people. Perhaps it could even be powerful enough to save your tenure as Minister from the still rather nasty blemish it suffered after the devastating scandal with Sirius Black's illegal imprisonment."
Fudge grimaced deeply at the reminder before looking Harry in the eye with obvious annoyance. "You have given me a lot to think about, Mr. Potter."
"I would certainly hope so, Minister," Harry replied with a sort of mock sincerity.
"Well... this little – encounter, has been – pleasant," Fudge said with forced politeness, "but as I said when we first ran into each other, this morning has been quite hectic and I still have a lot to deal with."
"Oh, of course, Minister. You are undoubtedly a very busy man," Harry replied.
Fudge grimaced slightly with a hint of annoyance at Harry before pulling it into a very forced, tight smile. "Yes, well – good day to you, Mr. Potter. Lucius." He nodded at Lucius who bowed his head slightly.
"Good day to you as well, Cornelius."
Fudge finally turned and walked past the pair of them, dispelling the privacy ward, and making his way into the lift.
"Well, that was fun," Harry said, grinning widely. Lucius looked at him speculatively for a moment before a smirk managed to curl the corner of his lips.
"Yes. Definitely interesting."
"Shall we actually get to what we came here to do, then?" Harry asked, gesturing down the hall.
"Yes, I think that would be for the best."
– –
It is impossible to explain one's self properly when in doubt and indecision as to what is to be done; but once resolved and decided, it is easy to find suitable words.
Niccoló Machiavelli
– –
A resounding crack echoed through the hall as Harry and Lucius made their appearance in the entry hall of Malfoy Manor.
Harry stretched one arm over his head, pulling it back with the other and twisting his neck to the side until it made a popping sound that made Lucius look over at him and grimace deeply.
Harry let out a relieved sounding groan and let his arm fall down while twisting his head back and forth slightly. "Merlin, I hate side-along apparition," Harry said with a sigh. "Although, I hate dealing with rubbish paperwork at the Ministry even more, so I'm glad both are over with."
A small pop echoed in the room and both wizards turned their attention to its source as a house elf – one Harry was, of course, very familiar with in fact – appeared.
"Master has returned with Mr. Harry Potter, sir," Dobby said as he bowed low but kept his head up so he could look at them. "Young Master Draco is sayings he's being needings to speak with both of yous as soon as you arrived!"
"Oh?" Harry said, curiously.
"Yes, Harry Potter Sir," Dobby said, nodding his head vigorously and causing his huge bat-like ears to flop around ridiculously. "Young Master Draco is beings in the drawing room. He's been waitings for you –"
"Father, Harry – you're back," Draco said, walking into the entry hall at a brisk pace and cutting Dobby off mid sentence.
"Take my cloak, elf," Lucius said walking forward, looking at Draco and not bothering to even glance at Dobby while basically dropping the cloak onto his head as he passed.
"Yes, Master," Dobby said as he quickly straightened out the cloak and turned to Harry. "Is Mr. Harry Potter sir needings Dobby to take anything?"
"No, Dobby, thank you. You can go," Harry said and Dobby bowed quickly and vanished. Harry turned his attention on Draco. "The elf said you needed to speak with us?"
"Yes, the – the Dark Lord was here when mother and I arrived," Draco said standing tall and trying valiantly to hide how unsettled he still was from his encounter.
"What did he want? He knew that Lucius and I would be at the Ministry," Harry asked, frowning slightly in confusion.
"He... he wished to speak with – me, actually," Draco said.
Lucius' eyes widened. "With you?"
Harry's frown deepened and his brow puckered in confusion for all of a moment before understanding flashed in his eyes, quickly followed by exasperation. "What did he do?" Harry asked sounding both annoyed and resigned.
"He had me sign a secrecy contract," Draco grumbled.
"You Dark Lord came to you for something and had you sign a contract that prevents you from telling us what it was?" Lucius said incredulously, misinterpreting Draco's statement.
"No," Harry said, "he had Draco sign a secrecy contract because of what I revealed to Draco about a week ago," Harry rolled his eyes. "I gave Draco the option of my telling him without the safety net of a secrecy contract and he took it. I told Mar–the Dark Lord – a few days ago and he and I had a bit of a row about it. Circe, I'm sorry Draco, I should have just had something drawn up and had you sign it. Then you wouldn't have had to deal with him instead. No doubt he did everything in his power to intimidate the hell out of you. I really should have seen this coming."
"Harry, it's hardly your fault," Draco insisted.
"What, pray tell, is it that you revealed to my son a week ago that the Dark Lord did not approve of?" Lucius asked, looking clearly displeased.
"Oh, just some details about myself," Harry said dismissively. "But they're details of a rather sensitive nature, and the Dark Lord didn't quite approve of me allowing the information to get into the hands of, I quote, 'a child', even though they're my secrets to tell, and I do, as a matter of fact, trust Draco to keep them for me. The Dark Lord, of course, is not nearly so trusting with sensitive information, so really – I should have seen this coming."
Harry paused and sent Draco an apologetic sort of grimace. "So how awful was the contract?"
Draco grimaced rather deeply in response, but didn't actually say anything.
"That bad, huh?" Harry said with a grimace that was a mix between apologetic and amused. "Look, I'll have my solicitor draw up something more reasonable. Once it's ready, I'll drag him here and we can perform the ritual to dissolve the contract he forced down your throat, and you can sign the one I have put together instead."
Draco's eyes widened in fear and he shook his head. "Harry, you don't have to do that! He's the Dark Lord! I already signed the agreement he gave me, I don't want him to think that I – that I complained to you about it or something!"
"You don't want him angry with you – I get it. He can be scary as hell when he feels inclined to be so – don't worry Draco. He's not going to get angry with you over this – this is my thing. He should have consulted me first anyway. So was there anything else, or did he just come by to force the contract down your gullet?"
Draco swallowed and nodded his head. "There was something else. He... he said that he wanted you to visit him at his manor at your earliest convenience."
Harry nodded thoughtfully for a moment before shrugging. "Yeah, that's fine. I didn't really have anything planned for the rest of the day, other than unpacking, and I need to tell him about what happened at the Ministry and with Dumbledore anyway. We can save our little Dumbledore bashing session until I come back, okay?"
Draco gave a weak laugh and nodded. "I suppose I can wait," Draco drawled in a put-upon tone that was rather weak and forced thanks to his still somewhat frayed nerves.
Harry turned to Lucius then and raised his eyebrows expectantly. "Well, looks like my suffering from repeated side-along apparitions isn't over for the day, after all. I'll be needing you to give me a lift to his manor. I've never been there before."
"Yes, of course. Shall we leave now?"
"Yeah, may as well – no wait. Hang on, I've got to get something first." Harry turned and looked at Draco, "are my trunks in the same room I used when I stayed over the holidays?"
"Yes. I had one of the elves take them as soon as Mother and I returned home from the train station."
"Great, I'll be right back," Harry said and quickly jogged from the entry hall in the direction of the wing that held he and Draco's rooms.
The two blonds remained standing in silence for several seconds after that before Draco turned to look at his father, hesitantly.
"The Dark Lord – he... has his magic always been so... intense?"
Lucius' face remained passive for several seconds before the corner of his mouth turned up slightly and he nodded. "Mostly. It's actually more impressive now than it was when I was first taken into his service in my youth. Although it was still monumentally overwhelming, even then."
"Wait – so now he's even more powerful than he was before?" Draco gasped.
"Quite so."
Draco looked away with a pensive expression on his face for several moments. "It was... incredible," Draco said with shaky awe.
"He is a truly astounding wizard."
"How can he hide it? His power, I mean. I never would have known from when I met him at the ball. Never would have guessed..."
Lucius gave him a commiserating sort of look. "He managed to hide it, even from my and my fellows. That's one area he seems to have advanced in quite a lot since when I joined his cause in my youth. I cannot say for sure if he was less able to hide it then, or simply less inclined to bother. But what he does now is astonishing, even to me, and I have been practicing magical masking since before even attending Hogwarts, just as I have taught you as well.
"The Dark Lord hides his true power with a truly tremendous skill and control. There are lesser wizards who are fortunate enough to be blessed with larger wells of magic than their peers, but who have never mastered control over that power, or hold any ability to wield that power with any skill. They walk about, practically shouting with their magic, wasting energy pointlessly with inefficient flashy spell-casting and absolutely no finesse at all."
"I know we've always covered how important it is to mask your true power from others, and I've always continued to practice the techniques we covered during my occlumency lessons, but – but – this is insane! How can anyone so completely mask that much power?" Draco asked in a hushed exclamation of disbelief.
"Now I think you are beginning to understand why it was so easy for me to commit myself to following him and his cause, in my youth," Lucius said with a small smirk.
Draco nodded his head slowly. "Yes... I think I am."
"Alright, I'm back," Harry's voice came through the hall as he trotted back towards them. Draco gave him a rather bewildered look as he saw that Harry had changed his clothes – but not into something more impressive or proper, but instead into something that appeared rather obviously ill fitting.
"What are you wearing?" Draco exclaimed in horror as Harry came to a stop while holding up his overly-long pants with his hand at his waist to keep them from falling down. He had a somewhat worn old rucksack slung over his shoulder. But potentially worse of all was that his shirt was a muggle tshirt!
"Hang on," Harry said, raising his hand and holding up his finger to indicate Draco wait. It was at this point that Draco also noticed that Harry was holding a potion vial in that hand as well.
Harry used his thumb to pop off a cork in the top of the vial and in one swift motion, tipped it up to his lips to down the contents of it. The violent pink fluid seemed to ooze out of the container and when it was finally all gone Harry grimaced something awful.
"What did you just drink?" Draco asked with worry in his voice but Harry was obviously not in the best position to answer as he bent over slightly, putting his hands on his knees to support himself as his body suddenly began to stretch and grow at a tremendous rate. His skin looked pulled thin in certain areas until it began to catch up with the rest of him. His hair grew longer, but at a slower rate than the rest of him; facial hair sprouted out of his chin and jaw but at a semi-irregular rate; his muscles popped out at strange intervals, and his bones made popping and cracking sounds that caused Draco to cringe and flinch several times.
The transformation seemed to stop quite suddenly, leaving Harry panting for several seconds before he stood up with a groan and began to twist and stretch his neck and shoulders. Draco and Lucius both stood there gaping at him while he took a moment to stand on one foot with his arms out, testing his balance for a moment before switching to the other and repeating the gesture.
"No matter how many times I do that, I don't think I'll ever get used to it," Harry muttered after hopping up and down on both toes a few times. "Sorry – gotta get used to the change in size or I'll just end up tripping over my own feet the second I try to walk," he said, grinning at their still dumbfounded expressions.
"You're older," Draco stated.
Harry grinned in amusement at Draco. "Yes, Draco. I drank an aging potion. They make people older," Harry spoke in a tone one would use when speaking with a child, making Draco give him an annoyed glare.
"Why, exactly, did you do this?" Lucius asked warily, still looking rather starkly shocked.
"To hell if I'm going to the Dark Lord's manor as a fourteen year old," Harry scoffed. "Besides, if there's any place I'll be spending time in, this summer, that I'm actually permitted to wear a more comfortable skin and not have to worry about what people think, it's there. My summers have always been spent primarily in my older bodies – I spent my entire summer in France last year, in this age – which I guess is around twenty-five-ish? I'd do the same thing again this summer if I thought I could get away with it, but you might get visitors who would be expecting me to be – me at age fourteen – so I know that's not really an option. But I still would like to slip into something more comfortable whenever the opportunity arises – like now. I even had to brew a special version of my potion that would only last about half a day, instead of my normal recipe which can last a couple weeks."
"An aging potion that can last two weeks?" Draco said. "I've never heard of anything like that!"
"Of course not – I haven't published it anywhere yet," Harry said with a smirk.
"You invented it?" Draco replied, impressed.
"Necessity is the mother of invention," Harry said with a small mock bow.
"I can't help but wonder, Mr. Potter, what necessity could have led you to frequently needing long-lasting aging potions?" Lucius drawled and the glint of intense curiosity shone bright in his eyes.
Harry shrugged. "I raised myself. People don't like to rent flats to children. People don't like to sell groceries to children. A young child that seems to be living alone tends to draw attention from neighbors who then proceed to call children's services, who then proceed to stick their unwanted noses into my private affairs. All very inconvenient things that can be avoided easily if I'm simply, not a child."
"You raised yourself?" Lucius replied skeptically. "From how young an age, exactly?"
Harry grinned. "Since my parents died, of course."
"You were one," Lucius stated with obvious disbelief.
"So?"
"A one-year old cannot just raise themselves, nor can they brew potions," Lucius pointed out while looking at Harry with narrowed eyes.
Harry merely grinned wider. "I did."
"Mr. Potter –"
"Father," Draco said, cutting his father off and gaining him a wide-eyed and clearly annoyed, look from his father. Draco swallowed before straightening up again. "Father just... for now... let it go. Harry told me the truth and the next thing I know the Dark Lord comes threatening to obliviate me."
Lucius' face flushed with annoyance and frustration and Harry could see his jaw working as he clenched his teeth. No doubt, the knowledge that his son even knew the whole truth behind these riddles, and yet he himself was being denied the information, was rather infuriating.
Harry chuckled. "Don't worry yourself, Lucius. I actually intend to fill you in on all those burning questions sometime soon. Probably before the month is even over. I'll have a secrecy contract drawn up for you when I have one made for Draco, so you won't have to worry about the Dark Lord shoving a contract of his own down your throat. Although, admittedly, he's got you Marked, so there's less need for secrecy contracts in your case."
Lucius' gaze snapped back to Harry. "Why wait? You told Draco without the contract in place to start. Do you not trust me?" he said with faux hurt.
Harry burst out laughing for a moment, earning him an annoyed scowl. Harry then gave the man a somewhat devious smile. "Oh, it's not about trust at all, Lucius. Actually, I trust that I understand you and your motives well enough that I probably could tell you the truth, and not be worried at all. The reason I'm not going to tell you right now, isn't about trust - it's because I'm not done having fun with you yet."
Lucius was clearly not amused if the cold, deadpan that followed, was any indication. "I can't honestly say which is more infuriating. Putting up with your snark as a child, or hearing it coming from you as an adult."
Harry laughed again before turning slightly so he could look into one of the ornate gilded mirrors that hung on the wall behind him.
"Speaking of being an adult," Harry said trailing off as he pulled out his wand with his right hand while his left came up and brushed over his face and chin. He had acquired quite a bit of very rough looking facial hair during the transformation process, but with a quick unspoken spell and a flick of his hand, the hair vanished from his face, leaving him perfectly clean-shaven.
He ran his palm up and down his face one last time, tilting his chin up and examining the results for a moment before apparently feeling satisfied and putting the wand away. "Much better."
He turned his attention back on Lucius and grinned at the man who was looking back at him with resigned annoyance. "Shall we go?"
Lucius gave a frustrated sigh and reached out his hand to place it on Harry's shoulder. "Yes, I suppose we shall. I will return shortly, Draco."
Draco gave them both a parting nod just as the two vanished with a crack.
Harry could feel it as they spun and squeezed through the wards around their destination and reappeared with another resounding crack. They were in yet another ornate and traditionally decorated manor entry hall, although there was the obvious difference in that this new room had no magical paintings featuring people.
There were a few landscapes that were obviously of wizarding creation since Harry could see the wind blowing through the grass and trees in the scenes displayed, but not a single magical portrait. In the Malfoy's home, it was difficult to find a stretch of wall that didn't feature at least one sharp-featured, blond and gray-eyed witch or wizard, staring imperiously out at you from their antique picture frame. But then again, the Malfoys had a long standing heritage that they were obscenely proud of, while Harry rather doubted Marvolo would have much opportunity to find any old portraits of his family, if he even wanted to. Which he wouldn't.
Harry took a moment to look around the room, wondering where the heck Marvolo had gotten this house in the first place. His attention was pulled away from the house and the lavishly ornate wainscot moulding on the walls, by the pop of a house elf.
"Lord-Master is expecting yous," the small creature squeaked as soon as the two wizards had turned their attention on her. "Lord-Master says for Milly to show Master's guests to Master's office. This way, if you please."
Harry turned and followed the elf without hesitation, Lucius following behind an instant later, and the pair made their way down the hall. Harry could have easily found his way to Marvolo, even without the elf's assistance though, as every step closer they drew towards the man, the stronger the man's magic felt in the air. The elf lead them to a heavy, dark wooden door, knocked and then pushed it open cautiously. "Lord-Master's guests are here," the little elf said in a quiet squeak as she popped her head through the door.
"Show them in," Marvolo's voice echoed from in the room and Harry couldn't help but grin at the sound of it. It had been nearly six months since Harry had last seen the man in person, and he found himself feeling a giddy sort of anticipation that he couldn't reasonably rationalize. The elf pushed the door the rest of the way open and made a sweeping motion with her hand to beckon them to enter. Harry stepped in first and his eyes instantly fell on Marvolo, who was standing by a large fireplace that was burning lowly in the hearth with Nagini curled up in a mass of coils, on the rug in front of it.
Marvolo turned slowly, maintaining a stoic mask of indifference for all of one second before his eyes widened and his lips parted, almost comically, at the sight of a much older Harry than he had no doubt expected, standing before him.
"Harry?" Marvolo asked in a tone that was as close to bordering on surprised wonder, as any tone the man had ever spoken in Harry's presence before – this life, or any other.
Harry's grin widened. "The one and only," he said with an exaggerated, sweeping bow.
"I see you opted to take an aging potion," Marvolo responded in a conversational tone, successfully regaining his calm demeanor from before.
"As observant as ever," Harry said dryly, still grinning.
Lucius, who had come to stand beside Harry, glanced over at him with an expression that told Harry the man was seriously questioning his sanity for daring to make such a sarcastic comment to the Dark Lord.
The Dark Lord, however, did not react with the anger that Lucius no doubt expected. Instead he smirked. "I approve."
"I thought you might like it."
Marvolo left his familiar by the fireplace and came over to stand a few feet from Harry, looking him over with a keen fascination. "How old is your body right now?"
"The potency I used on this batch added about ten years, so I'd say I'm currently bordering on the edge of twenty-five."
"It suits you well," Marvolo said, meeting Harry's eyes with a satisfied grin.
"Thanks," Harry replied with a chuckle.
Harry paused then and reached into the rucksack that he'd had slung over his shoulder since rejoining the Malfoys in their entry hall, after retrieving his aging potion. His hand came back out of it a moment later, but now with Jörmy, coiled around his wrist.
"Jörmy told me that if I visited your home to bring him. He wanted to see Nagini again," Harry said with a chuckle.
"Did he now?" Marvolo drawled with a slight hint of amusement.
Harry bent down and let the small, pencil-thin snake slide off his wrist and onto the floor. A moment later, Harry pointed his wand and hissed out a finite in parseltongue. Lucius took a startled step backwards and gaped for a moment as the once-tiny snake suddenly grew to a size even slightly larger than Nagini was.
§Yessss, much better,§ Jörmy hissed, contently as he stretched himself out across the floor and then made his way towards the fireplace, as it was the warmest place in the room. §But now my stomach feels empty.§ he groused.
Harry made a face and glanced over at Marvolo. "You'd think I'd remember to plan for that, by now, but I don't exactly get a lot of opportunities to unshrink him. Do you keep any live rodents or rabbits or anything around, for Nagini?"
"Of course," Marvolo replied easily before turning to the house elf that was still waiting by the door and looking on at Marvolo reverantly. "Milly, bring two of the hares."
"Yes, Lord-Master," Milly squeaked excitedly before snapping her fingers and summoning two large rabbits from where ever the live animals were kept in the manor. They appeared with a pop, hovering in the air in front of the house elf. "Do they go to the snakey's Lord-Master?"
"Yes, of course."
Milly nodded and snapped her fingers again, sending the two squirming hares through the air to then dangle in the space in front of each of the enormous snakes. Nagini raised her head and eyed the one in front of her shrewdly for a moment before turning her head away in apparent disinterest. Harry noted that she was already sporting a large lump about two feet from her head, suggesting she had something still in the process of being digested so he wasn't terribly surprised that she didn't seem interested. The elf apparently recognized this because the rabbit was released from it's spell and it quickly scampered away to hide beneath some item of furniture.
Jörmy, however, wasted little time in reeling back and then striking out in a lightening flash movement. He sunk his powerful fangs and crushing jaws, into the hare's body, filling it with his paralyzing venom. The hare jerked and spasmed for a few seconds before falling completely limp in the large snake's jaws. Jörmy then began the process of swallowing it whole.
Lucius grimaced slightly before looking away and clearing the expression from his face. "I was unaware that your snake was larger than it appeared," he drawled to Harry, who smirked in return.
"As ironic as naming a teeny-tiny snake after the World Serpent may be, I think that naming an enormous, magical snake after the World Serpent, is slightly more appropriate," Harry replied.
Lucius gave something of a conceding nod. "That it is." He turned his attention to Marvolo next. "Do you wish for a report on our trip to the Ministry, My Lord?"
"That won't be necessary, Lucius. I'm sure Harry can do that sufficiently," Marvolo replied in a somewhat bored tone.
"Yes, my Lord," Lucius said with a slight bow of his head. He looked back at Harry next. "I have already adjusted the wards on the Floo to allow access to you. You should be able to Floo back without any problems. The Floo address is simply 'Malfoy Manor'."
"Does the adjustment to the wards also permit for apparition?" Harry asked.
"Apparition? Are you suggesting that you can apparate?"
"Does that honestly surprise you?" Harry asked with a tinge of amusement.
Lucius blinked once before giving an aborted eye roll and shaking his head. "I suppose it really shouldn't. Your skill in wandless magic alone is stunning. Seeing as your capable of performing magic that many grown men are incapable of, I shouldn't be surprised that you're capable of a perfectly common thing like apparition."
Harry snickered and shrugged before getting a mischievous glint in his eyes that Lucius obviously saw if the sudden shift towards nervous wariness on the man's face, was any indication.
Harry glanced around the room for a moment before looking back at Lucius, smirking widely. "You want to see something actually worth being surprised over?"
Lucius definitely looked wary now. "I don't know, Potter... do I?"
Harry chuckled and waved his empty hand, summoning the escaped hare from earlier, out from beneath a sofa and suspending it mid-air about six feet away from where the three wizards were gathered.
Marvolo frowned slightly, looking between Harry, the hare, and Lucius. The elf's eyes went huge and she slowly began to step backwards until she had reached the door.
"What sorts of spells would you say, with absolute certainty, cannot be performed wandlessly?" Harry asked Lucius, while maintaining his gaze on the floating, struggling rabbit.
Lucius hesitated and looked towards the Dark Lord for a moment before looking back at Harry. "A great many, I would suppose. But I have seen and read stories about some wizards reportedly even capable of conjuring things wandlessly, which I would normally assume to be a far too complicated and power-intensive branch of magic to be performed without a wand."
"What about offensive magic? Curses and such," Harry offered up, turning his gaze from the hare to look over his shoulder a bit towards Lucius.
"It would depend on the nature of the curse, I suppose. But some curses, would be impossible to properly control without the amplifying force and precision control only available when using a wand or other focusing agent."
"So... what? Unforgivables? The killing curse?" Harry offered, grinning slyly.
"Yes," Lucius said with certainty. "The killing curse could not possibly be cast without a wand."
Harry's grin only grew wider making him look more and more like a Cheshire cat. "You're sure about that?"
Lucius faltered now, frowning and glancing over towards the Dark Lord who only looked fascinated and amused, but whose expression offered no help for Lucius to decide how to react to this no-doubt, bizarre, situation.
Lucius' attention visibly snapped back to Harry as the air that filled the dimly lit room, suddenly began to thicken and grow heavy with magic that had not been there a moment before. The air surrounding Harry wavered and warped like a mirage on the desert horizon – like water ripples in mid air – and a haze seemed to coalesce around Harry as he turned his gaze back on the floating rabbit, now trembling mid-air.
Harry's very being seemed to vibrate with power and then, his eyes literally began to glow. It was a sickly bright green that seemed to bleed like a lens flare from his eyes, and it was a color that all three habitants of the room were intimately familiar with. Harry heard Lucius's breath hitch with a gasp.
Harry raised his arm with fingers splayed towards the floating hare. The air around his hand appeared to shift and move in swirls like a thick viscous fluid. His hand began to glow as the swell of power from both within and without began to focus there where he willed it. The glowing from his hand seemed to almost bleed from his fingertips and he felt sweat break out on his brow from the effort.
Harry's breathing was coming shallow and quick, and there was a manic, almost crazed, look in his eyes as he made a sudden move with his palm pushing forward, towards the rabbit, in the air. He shouted out a guttural sound that came out more as 'Aah!' than any actual word – not something that could honestly be qualified as an incantation, by anyone's book.
The green glow shot from his palm and burst through the air, slamming into the hare in a bright flash of light and magic and power. And then it was over. The air thinned and the magic that had filled it so heavily only an instant before, dissipated within the blink of an eye. Harry was panting heavily as Lucius managed to jerk his gaze away from the now obviously dead rabbit, still floating mid-air, and look over in utter astonishment at the man-or child-or whatever he was- standing mere feet from him.
Harry's eyes were still vaguely glowing, but the light was slowly leaking from them, leaving little trails in the air as Harry subtly moved his head with each of his heaving breaths.
"My god," Lucius whispered.
Harry continued to pant for several seconds longer as a manic grin began to split his face.
"WOO!" Harry suddenly exclaimed, causing the other two wizards in the room to jump with shock at the unexpected outburst. Harry then began bouncing a bit on the balls of his toes, as he felt that there was far too much energy and magic dancing through his veins to possibly stand still. "Merlin, what a rush!" Harry went on with a laugh. He waved his hand absently in front of him and the dead rabbit floated through the air until it reached his hand. He didn't grab it though – instead he just reached out with the backs of his knuckles and pet it, like you would a cat. He cocked his head to the side; eyes still wide and wild, and still with a hint of green glow trailing from them as he moved; and observed the rabbit as if it were something beautiful.
"So soft. So easy to die... Lucky little thing," Harry mused wistfully.
"Harry," Marvolo's voice was rough and low and Harry turned to look at him with some reluctance. Finally Harry met the man's gaze and something, deep in his gut, jerked a bit at the intensity in the man's eyes. He didn't know what it was, but it was powerful. "Lucius, thank you for bringing Harry here. You can go," Marvolo spoke in a clipped, commanding tone, while never once removing his gaze from Harry.
"My Lo–? – Yes. Yes, my Lord," Lucius began hesitantly before his brain kicked in and he quickly bowed. He looked hesitantly between the two of them before letting his still-stunned gaze linger on Harry a moment longer. Appearing to shake himself from his stupor, Lucius made another quick bow and then vacated the room.
"Milly – leave," Marvolo said and the elf disappeared with a pop an instant later.
Harry blinked over at the door where Lucius and the elf had just vanished before turning his gaze back to Marvolo. The man's magic had taken on a considerable spike in the last minute, and it seemed to be dancing with some unheard, rapid, beat. Harry's skin flushed and raised with goose bumps and every hair stood on end with magic and energy and some unnamed excitement.
"Marvolo?" Harry asked, somewhat cautiously, as he found his mind was still a little too jazzed from the magic he'd just performed, to form enough of a coherent thought to make precise sense of just what was going on.
Marvolo, however, did not reply. Instead, he began to step forward in a predatory fashion, stalking towards Harry with a fire in his eyes. A fire of want that was backed up by the powerful echos of desire that Harry was feeling surge in the back of his mind.
Harry took a hesitant step backwards and found himself bumping into a long side table that was pressed against the back of a chaise lounge that was angled towards the fireplace. Harry turned his head and glanced back at the object he'd just run into, only for the briefest moment, but in that moment his peripheral vision picked up a flash of movement. He turned forward again just in time to find Marvolo had come to stand a mere inch from his nose, leaning in and practically staring into Harry's soul with his penetrating gaze.
Harry's breath hitched and he felt the hot panting breath of Marvolo against his face as the man stood there, drastically inside Harry's bubble of personal space. Despite the intrusion, Harry did not find himself tensing from claustrophobia or pressure – no, all he could feel was the singeing tingle of Marvolo's magic as it danced against his skin and echoing through his very veins. The warm, wonderful, comfortable, inviting sensation, that he now remembered so clearly from their weird little hand-holding session, six months prior; only they weren't actually touching yet, so it was almost like a tease. He could just barely taste that wonderful sensation, but it wasn't quite there yet.
But it was still tantalizing, and Harry felt his eyelids growing heavy as he yearned to close them and just breath in the man's scent and taste his magic, so surprisingly close.
And then he was being kissed.
Strong, demanding lips, pressed against his own as a pair of large hands reached up and held the back of his head and the side of his jaw with a strength that suggested they feared he would try to escape if they didn't stop him. Harry's world exploded in his head as a waterfall of sensation cascaded over him with barely any warning at all, and Harry moaned in shock at how ridiculously good it all felt. So good – so warm and complete, and just right. It was like all the pieces had suddenly and unexpectedly been magnetically drawn into all the right places; and they all just fit.
The lips were moving eagerly now, and Harry became aware enough to realize he was moving back; pressing forward, yearning to get more of that wonderful feeling. But his brain was slowly waking back up from the overload of sensation, and the obnoxious thing was starting to really freak the fuck out, screaming and yelling at him 'What the hell are you doing!?'.
Harry pulled back with a gasp and a smacking of lips separating, and Marvolo let him go, despite the grip on his face. The pair stood there, staring at each other and panting, heavily.
"You kissed me!" Harry exclaimed in stunned disbelief.
"As observant as ever," Marvolo said mockingly, echoing Harry's own words from earlier.
"But... but, why?" Harry asked incredulously.
Marvolo had the audacity to smirk at him. "Because I wanted to. Isn't that reason enough?"
Harry barked out an incredulous laugh. "You wanted to? But, why would you want to!?" Harry asked, honestly bewildered.
Marvolo tilted his head and looked skyward as if he were asking some greater power for patience before looking back at Harry. "You cannot possibly be so oblivious in this one area when you are so brilliant in all others."
"I would argue that there are still several areas that I can still find myself baffled by," Harry argued mockingly. "But this, whole unexpected people kissing me thing – yeah. Obviously I actually can be oblivious to it."
"I find you attractive," Marvolo stated in a deep tone that sent unexpected thrills down Harry's gut, and the man pressed forward an inch.
"Oh?" Harry asked airily in a raspy voice. "Is that before or after I took the aging position and stopped looking like a child?"
"The aging potion has definitely helped to ease any reluctance I was still holding onto," Marvolo said with a smirk, "however my attraction is to more than your incorrectly-aged body. After all, in the two years since you avalanched your way into my life, we've barely met in person a hand-full of times. I suppose you could say mine is an attraction nurtured over long-distance, and has more to do with you than what you happen to look like. And we both know you are not actually fourteen."
"Oh..." Harry whispered softly, feeling some strange sort of pleasure at that response.
"You cannot tell me you do not return my affections. I know that you do," Marvolo said, leaning in again so far that there was barely a slip of air between their noses. "You've told me as much in the past. And I've felt it over our bond. Even if you are somehow in denial over the existence of our mutual feelings, we both know that they are there."
"Well, yeah – I've said that I'm physically attracted to you –"
"Is that really all?" Marvolo asked disbelievingly with a smirk.
"Well, no. Obviously not, but –"
"But what?"
"But – but – it's us! It's you, and it's me! We – we can't... I don't know! But... it's not like we can act on that attraction!"
"Why not?" Marvolo breathed, tilting his head to the slide so that their noses wouldn't collide and trailing it instead along Harry's cheekbone. Harry's breath hitched and his eyelids fluttered.
Harry's breath was difficult to catch and he felt the wooden table behind him pressing into his lower back, and the heat of Marvolo's body pressing into his front. The magic was dancing between their skin like electricity arcing between two electrodes, and Harry had to fight to get his mouth to work and his brain to produce words for the mouth to speak.
"B-because," Harry said, breathlessly, "because I'm the Boy-Who-Lived, and your the Dark Lord. We... it's just... I don't know – isn't there something wrong with that?"
"Meaningless titles," Marvolo mumbled against Harry's skin as he began to trail his lips along Harry's jaw and then let his tongue dart out and play with the lob of Harry's ear.
"Oh gods," Harry moaned and felt his body melting between the table and the man pressing against him.
"Yessss, Harry," Marvolo hissed into his ear, "it feels wonderful, doesn't it?"
"Uh, huh," Harry managed to get out in something of an incoherent noise while somewhere in his brain a war waged over why this was a bad idea, and how much he wanted to give in, anyway.
"I used to think that anything I did with another person that felt good could only ever be a weakness," Marvolo continued to murmur against Harry's cheek and neck as he trailed his nose and lips along Harry's exposed skin there, while his hands made busy work caressing both the back of Harry's head with one, and his side and waist. "I feared that if I allowed anyone else to affect me in such a way, I was giving them a power that they could use against me. I certainly would use that power against someone else, if given the chance. And I did. Many times. Attraction was such an easy way to manipulate the weak."
Harry let out a breathy chuckle. "Is that what you're doing here?" he rasped out.
"You're not weak," Marvolo stated before latching onto Harry's neck and sucking hard. He moaned at the same time as Harry did, with nearly as much enthusiasm as well, which only seemed to egg Harry's own reactions on. The idea that Marvolo was affected by this, even if only a fraction of what Harry was feeling, was an intense thought.
Harry's legs shook with the intensity of the sensations; both physical and magical – or whatever it was – that connected the two of them together. The bizarre, broken soul magic that should have killed them both or never worked in the first place, but had somehow managed to link them together in such an unprecedented way. In all of Harry's lives, he'd never imagined that their strange connection could lead to anything like this. Even in this life – this last year or so, as he was aware of the more positive aspects that were developing from the bond – he'd never honestly explored the possibilities that could arise from it. Never imagined... nothing like this.
Harry let out a weak laugh once he'd regained enough control of himself to stop moaning and pressing into the man's ridiculously talented mouth. "I feel pretty weak right now," Harry said with shaky breaths.
"That's just your knees," Marvolo spoke with his lips pressed against Harry's skin as he released Harry's neck. "Don't worry. I'll catch you if you fall."
A strange, startled little noise came from Harry's throat as some inexplicable emotional reaction seemed to snap into place with those words. The knowledge that he held at the moment that – yes, Marvolo would catch him if he fell. Not only would he catch him, he'd probably then lay him out on the table or the chaise lounge, and do all sorts of wicked things that would only serve to make him feel more wonderful than he could recall feeling in who knew how many lifetimes.
Harry managed to pull himself together to some extent, because there was one thing he wanted to ask before he honestly gave in, and he needed to be able to speak if he were going to ask.
"Wait – okay, wa... why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do you want to do this? You said you wanted to do it – but why? Why me?"
Marvolo pulled back a bit and their eyes met from a mere few inches apart and Harry felt the link singing between their minds. The rush of emotions and sensations was startling, but also difficult to interpret when his mind was already so muddled. Still, he wasn't completely disconnected from it, and he understood some of what he was feeling from the other man. He just wanted it spoken aloud.
"Because," Marvolo began slowly, "I find you fascinating. You intrigue me, and you stimulate my mind like no other ever has." Marvolo's hand moved gently along the side of Harry's cheek and carded into his disheveled black hair. Not only did it feel nice to have the man running his long nimble fingers through his hair, but the trails of tingling magical energy that followed in their wake was lovely. "You are... my equal," Marvolo said with a sardonic smirk before his face went intensely serious again. "And because I want to keep you all to myself. You're mine. You are far too good for anyone else, but me."
Harry barked out a laugh, but the smile that spread across his face was genuine as he reached up and wrapped his arms around Marvolo's neck, pressing into the man and kissing him back on his own.
Marvolo let out a high, almost desperate moan in response and tangled his hand more firmly in Harry's hair while his other hand tightened it's grip against Harry's waist, pressing Harry more firmly against him, making the man's erection even more obvious, as if Harry hadn't already felt it by now. Not to say he wasn't sporting one of his own, of course; nor was he hesitating at this point to rub right back.
The two became a tangle of limbs and heated bodies as they clung, grabbed and pressed into each other; kissing with a desperation neither had likely experienced with another person in ages, if ever at all.
At some point, Marvolo reached out and pushed aside whatever trinkets had been on the table behind Harry, sending them clattering to the ground, and then hiked Harry up so that he was sitting on it with his legs spread, and Marvolo pressed firmly between them. The two rutted against each other there, kissing and devouring each others faces and any exposed skin that was accessible, moaning and writhing against each other in bliss.
Harry's hand began an almost mindless, desperate quest, to expose more of that smooth, beautiful skin, and his fingers ran down the center of Marvolo's waistcoat, undoing the zillion little silk buttons there with a well-practiced bit of wandless magic, and pushing it aside to repeat the gesture on Marvolo's fine white shirt.
Marvolo chuckled as Harry spread the fabric apart and his hands instantly splayed against the man's chest and Harry moaned giddily. The skin-on-skin contact was addictive and Harry found he only wanted more. It should be illegal for anything to feel this good, he found himself thinking, as he broke away from Marvolo and reached down to grab the bottom hem of his muggle tshirt.
Marvolo laughed again; his eyes alight with delight and heat and want. "Merlin, what are you wearing?"
Harry laughed too, not even looking sheepish as he pulled the shirt off over his head. "Nothing now," Harry replied cheekily.
"Not true. You still seem to be wearing a bothersome amount of clothing on your lower half," Marvolo said back as he leaned in and latched his mouth onto Harry's clavicle, causing Harry's head to fall back and a deep moan to escape from his parted lips.
"Oh... well," Harry panted, "if you feel up to it, feel free to do something about that."
A devilish grin spread across Marvolo's face as he looked up at Harry as his mouth moved down and he latched onto one of Harry's nipples, earning him even more moans, and one of Harry's hands coming up to fist itself into Marvolo's hair.
Marvolo pulled back and let his tongue dance around the pert peak for a moment before he smiled at a now very dazed-looking Harry, "if you insist," he said before running his fingers, alive with magical energy, down the side of Harry's trousers, causing them to seemingly disintegrate into tatters and then dust.
Harry laughed, gaping down at his now bare legs. "Hey, I don't have a lot of clothes that fit at this age!"
"I'll buy you more," Marvolo said before pressing back and capturing Harry's lips in his own.
Harry grinned into the kiss and let his hand that wasn't clutched in Marvolo's beautiful soft hair, slide down and run along Marvolo's upper-leg and hip.
Marvolo chuckled against Harry's lips and pulled back just enough to speak, "Don't think I don't know what you're doing," he muttered as his own trousers began to split apart at every seam and fall off, onto the floor.
"At least yours could still be put back together with a reparo," Harry argued, breathlessly as the man's thigh began to undulate between Harry's legs, pressing rhythmically against Harry's erection, straining in his thin cotton pants.
"How considerate," Marvolo whispered before dipping down to tongue at Harry's smooth stomach and belly button before trailing it back up. Harry arched back until he nearly tipped back over the edge of the table and onto the chaise lounge behind it. He yelped and then laughed with the slight shift in his balance, and Marvolo reached out to grab him and prevent him from falling.
Marvolo chuckled. "Told you I'd catch you."
"You're being ridiculous," Harry laughed. "How about we find a somewhat less precarious perch for this?"
"My, my, Harry Potter. Are you trying to get into my bed chambers?" Marvolo teased.
"I didn't say that, but if you're making the invitation –" Harry said with a small laugh.
"How could I possibly deny you such a thing?" Marvolo said, pulling Harry up and pressing their bared chests together, drawing out sighs of delight from both of them. Then their eyes met and it was one of those moments where words didn't seem to work quite well enough. "I don't think I could ever deny you anything," Marvolo whispered. "You make me want to give you the world, Harry Potter."