I'm back! Sorry for being MIA for the past few months, but I was quite busy with my summer internship, which left me absolutely no time for myself :( I hope that this fluffy chapter will make up for my absence!

The first part of this chapter is simple and fluffy -which killed most of my brain cells- so I hope that my readers will enjoy it! The second part is more focused on content. I'm thinking that the part on Yule celebrations will probably span across two to three chapters.

PS. All Yule traditions and celebrations was taken from online websites.

Chapter Twenty-One: Yule Preparations

Lucius looked at the young Elf settled comfortably on his lap a little incredulously. Did he hear wrong? Or did Harry really just admitted to him that he didn't dare to take their relationship further simply because he didn't know what to do and how to react? His son hadn't needed the talk that every parent dreaded giving their teenage children since he seemed to have figured it out all by himself – and if the rumours circulating in the dungeons at Hogwarts were true, he probably experimented quite a bit too.

Harry lowered his head in embarassment. He told Lucius about his concerns just as Severus had told him to, but the following silence was simply unnerving.

Just as Harry was about to try and escape from the strange silence, Lucius leaned forward and buried his face against Harry's shoulders. Feeling a tickling sensation from where Lucius' nose was pressing against his skin, Harry was baffled. "Lucius?" Is the man laughing at him?

"Oh, Harry," Lucius sighed, "You are remarkably thick, love."

Harry frowned. Was that supposed to be a compliment at all? "What do you mean?"

"I am sure Draco told you before that Veela are generally jealous creatures," Lucius pulled his Chosen closer in against his chest, "What he did not tell you –or rather, what he might not be so clear on– is when a Veela develops an absolute possessiveness over their Chosen. We can be more demanding than a Shadow Daemon at times, and one of which is when the Chosen is virtually untouched by another.

"To know that you have never been so intimate with anyone else, to know that you are allowing me –us– to teach you about the pleasure that intimacy can bring… you are making my Veela instincts more than rampant right now, love. I will be more than just touchy and feely, Harry, after the declaration, I will probably have trouble keeping my hands off you at all."

Harry blushed beautifully, tilting his head back to rest against Lucius chest as his suitor sat back up and looked down at him warmly.

"Harry, will you give me the honour?"

Harry stared at him imploringly for a long moment, and finally –slowly– relaxed his entire body. Closing his eyes, he nodded.

Knowing that Harry probably felt more comfortable with his eyes closed, Lucius whispered in his ears, "Relax, love, I will not do anything you think you cannot handle right now. If you think I am pushing your boundaries too far, tell me and I will stop. Do not fear, I am sure I will appreciate any reactions or sounds you make."

Leaning back against the back of the sofa, he turned Harry around so that Harry was straddling his lap. Harry's eyes opened and widened in surprise, but relaxed and closed once more after seeing the tenderness in Lucius' eyes.

Placing his hands on Harry's neck and shoulders, he gently rubbed circles on his back, murmuring softly, "Do not think too much about this, love. Treat it just like a massage, do you like it?"

His smile widened when he received a slow nod in response. His hands went further down Harry's back slowly, moving in soothing motions to keep Harry relaxed. Fingers lingering lovingly over the curve of Harry's back just above his arse, he continued talking in a soft voice, directly whispered into Harry's ear. "It is not that strange, is it? There is nothing to be afraid of. How do you feel?"

Harry shivered when Lucius' fingers ghosted across his hips and danced up his arms, one of his hands hovering over Harry's collarbone. "…warm, and a little weird, but a nice kind of weird, I think."

A soft laugh answered his description. Warm hands caressed down his back once more, one hand staying at his lower back, while the other slid down to his right thigh. The slight warm pressure against his back was comforting enough to erase any uncertainties he had towards the hand resting on his thigh, which was almost touching his knee.

"Fine?" Lucius wanted to make sure before he pressed on.

Harry hummed in agreement. To be truthful, he was still a little apprehensive about it, but Lucius' touches so far felt better than he had thought, and Lucius seemed to enjoy it quite a little as well.

Lucius' hand glided over Harry's thigh and knee, drawing wide large circles in slow motions; his touch too light to be uncomfortable, but firm enough for Harry to feel the clear warm weight moving over the fabric of his pants. Watching Harry's reactions carefully, he slid his hand inwards onto Harry's inner thigh. Rubbing his thumb in small circles, he moved his hands slowly upwards, but stopped midway when he felt Harry shivering slightly.

"Shhh, I will not move up any further. Are you fine with this?" Lucius comforted him, he didn't want to push too far.

"Mmhmm," Harry buried his face further into Lucius' chest, too embarrassed by his own reaction to reply.

Lucius gave a soft laugh before trailing his hands back and forth on Harry's thigh and lower back, long fingers sliding beneath Harry's shirt and caressing the soft skin, chuckling gently into his Chosen's ears, "My, you are really sensitive, love."

Harry clutched the fabric of Lucius' shirt tightly, fighting back the shudder and goosebumps stemming from Lucius' caress. He couldn't tell if he liked being touched like this or not, but he did feel… well, protected and cherished, and something he has never felt before – it feels good, but he could feel himself getting a little bit feverish as well, and he wasn't too sure whether that is a good thing or not.

Lucius finally stopped those soft touches when he heard a low, muffled moan coming from Harry. It was one thing to get Harry to accept and grow used to these caresses, but it was another thing to overdo it and make it uncomfortable for both of them – he was already feeling the beginnings of an arousal.

"Fine, Harry?"

He cupped Harry's face gently and turned it up to look at him, regretting it almost as soon as he saw Harry's face. The delightful pinkish sheen blossomed across Harry's cheeks and down his neck, his eyes slightly dazed with his lips apart – an incredibly delectable scene in Lucius' eyes.

He brushed his fingertips over Harry's cheek, bending down so that their faces were mere inches away, and asked, "Harry… may I kiss you?"

Harry's eyelashes fluttered as he felt Lucius' warm breath against his nose, and then slowly, he nodded his head.

Lucius was gentle – that was all Harry could think of when their lips touched. He could feel the warm pressure against his lips, the swipe of Lucius' tongue against his lips, and then against his teeth and tongue.

Lucius was delighted when Harry responded timidly, and his kiss grew even gentler and deeper, coaxing Harry's tongue to dance with his.

When he finally released Harry, the young Elf was too dazed to say anything at all. Lucius pulled him closer into an embrace and chuckled in pure satisfaction, "Enjoyed it, love?"

Harry murmured something incoherent and nuzzled his face onto Lucius' shoulders, refusing to give Lucius a clear reply – although Lucius could see the blush extending over the tip of his ears.

The obvious answer led to a pleased, husky growl coming from the back of Lucius' throat, his Veela more than satisfied at teaching and receiving Harry's first kiss – much more than the gentle press of lips he got before the Ministry Party. He murmured softly as he placed gentle kisses on Harry's hair, "You are absolutely adorable, love…"

"Nghariyf…"

"What?" Lucius didn't quite catch the word coming from Harry, but as he took a closer look, he released a muffled laugh. His Chosen had apparently fallen asleep on him – was that kiss too demanding?

Harry once dreaded the moment he had to reveal to his pseudo-godfather the fact that he is being Courted by three men, three Slytherins in fact, and that two of them were Death Eaters – at least on the surface they were. Although Remus had been very protective of him before, after Sirius' death and Harry's effort in building the Sanctuary, he became a somewhat overbearing wolf hovering over its lone cub. That was why he'd storm Hogwarts when Harry failed to send his letters on time – of course, Harry never asked how the ex-Marauder went in and out of the castle without even Dumbledore noticing.

So when Remus showed up outside the Manor with a ceremonial Yule log in hand as a gift, Harry's smile couldn't help but falter a little.

Well, he did mentally prepare himself for this when he wrote the letter to inform Remus that he was spending the Yule holidays at Malfoy Manor, but… Remus probably guessed that the Malfoys and Severus were initiated into the Sanctuary, though he probably didn't know that three of the Slytherins were Courting Harry. He hadn't had a chance to tell Remus about it before, it didn't feel right informing him over letters, and now… well.

"Cub, where's my hug?" Remus raised a brow, his arms outstretched waiting for Harry to snap out of his thoughts.

Casting his worried aside and grinning wildly, Harry gave Remus a tight hug. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too, cub," Remus smiled gently. Harry is the only family he had left ever since Sirius fell through the Veil.

"Really, Harry, you should invite our guest into the manor before you start talking about how much you have missed him," Narcissa's voice came from behind as her hand settled on his shoulder. "Welcome, Mr. Lupin, please do come in."

"Lady Narcissa Black," Remus gave a slight nod in acknowledgement of her greeting.

Following Narcissa into the room, the sight of Lucius, Severus and Draco waiting expectantly for them – and the noticeable straightening of postures as Remus turned his gaze towards them – prompted him to give his godson a suspicious look. "Am I missing something here?"

Harry couldn't stop feeling a little guilty over the situation, and Remus –being observant as ever– caught that expression accurately, "Cub?"

"Um," Harry chanced a glance at his three suitors, and blurted out in one breath nervously, "LuciusSeverusandDracosentmeCourtingintentionsandIagreedsotheyhavebeenCourtingmeforawhilenow!"

Remus gave Harry a gentle smile, but the look in his eyes when he gazed at the three Slytherins was simply freezing. "I'm afraid I didn't quite catch that, cub. Do you mind repeating that again?"

Harry just gave him a blank look, knowing fully well that the werewolf heard everything he said, and clearly too.

Remus stared hard at him for a while, and sighed, turning his full attention to the three men who suddenly appeared to be uneasy. "Cub, I think I might need a private moment with them. Do you mind leaving for a while?"

Before Harry could try to change his mind, Narcissa had already made the decision for him. "Harry darling, I have prepared all the materials you wanted for the Yule gifts, perhaps we should start sorting so that the packages arrive on time? Come along, dear, I am sure the House elves have prepared a nice cup of hot chocolate with cinnamon for you as well."

As Narcissa dragged him out of the room, he only caught Remus' first sentence just as the door was closing.

"Good evening, gentlemen. Perhaps one of you would like to enlighten me on what my cub just said about Courting intentions?"

He couldn't do anything but pray for the safety of his three suitors – but he was sure Remus wouldn't be too harsh on them, right? At least, he hoped.

It was two hours gone before he saw Remus appear at the door of the room where he was sorting the Yule celebration gifts for every section of the Sanctuary with Narcissa.

Correctly interpreting Harry's worried look, Remus shook his head, "Don't worry, cub, I didn't kill them. Your suitors are healthy and alive. I just… wanted to share my thoughts on this issue with them."

Automatically translating that to "I just wanted to threaten them not to hurt my cub or I will tear them limb from limb and toss them to rogue wolves and Merlin knows what else", Harry didn't know whether he should be happy for Remus' obvious concern for him, or worry for the Slytherins' mental well-being. "Okay…?"

"But are you sure about this, cub?" Remus' concern was apparent in his eyes. Pulling Harry into a tight embrace, he muttered softly, "You are still so young, and with the upcoming war… "

"I am very sure about this, Moony," Harry reaffirmed. He relaxed in the familiar embrace, "I wasn't too sure about it at first, but after talking to Godric and Salazar, I decided to give it a try; but now I really appreciate what I have with them. There're still a lot of things I have to deal with, but they will help me through it."

Remus was silent for a long while, eventually he sighed and agreed. "As long as you are sure about this, cub."

He wasn't worried about the sincerity of the three Slytherins, he was fairly convinced of the genuine love and affection they hold for his cub (that much was shown in the two hours he had with them). He was just a little apprehensive that Harry might be too young for this, he still had long years ahead and who knew what events might occur during then? And of course the fact that the timing was all wrong – what if one of them (or worse, all of them) died in the war that was fast approaching?

"So you're fine with this?" Harry asked.

Remus nodded, "As long as they hold true to their Promises, I don't have anything against it – they have proven their attitude towards the war since they swore secrecy to the Sanctuary. However, I would have preferred if they consulted me before they sent their Courting Intentions – it is courtesy to approach the acting guardian of the Intended before a Courting decision. Imagine what would happen if Sirius was still here…"

Although Harry was still upset about Sirius' death, he felt a lot better after talking to Godric and Salazar the whole while he was in Hogwarts this year – he knew it was partially Sirius' rashness that led to his demise as well.

"He would go mad over this," Harry joked, "And he'd tear the house down."

"I imagine he would be yelling much worse than Mrs. Black's portrait in Grimmauld Place."

Watching Harry resume his packing of Yule celebration items, and realising that Narcissa had silently slipped out of the room without any of them noticing, Remus offered to help. "Seeing that I sort of drove your help away, I guess I am going to be your temporary helper for a while. What should I do?"

"I haven't packed the basket for our furry friends yet, you can start with that," Harry pointed a finger to one of the larger baskets in the room, "Just line the basket with evergreen boughs and floured wheat stalks, and fill it with the apples and oranges over there. The Holly and Ivy are in the tray there, just lay a sprig or two on the top of the apples and oranges. Though the logs aren't ready yet, Narcissa probably went to find the coloured candles, somehow it got lost when the House elves moved the things here."

Remus started packing at Harry's instructions, "How are you sending it off? Surely not your falcons?"

"Ragnok said that he'll send some goblins over to pick it up later and deliver it to the rest of the Sanctuary," Harry replied absentmindedly, tying a red and gold bow on the handle of the basket. Looking around, he groaned irritably.

Lucius appeared at the doorway before Remus could ask, "Need anything else, Harry?"

"The incense and herbs, Lucius!" Harry pushed around the materials spread out on the floor, "I can't find it!"

"Severus has the herbs, Draco is helping him sort it into separate bundles now. I am sure I saw the boxes of incense yesterday, give me a moment," Lucius said as he walked away from the door, intent on hunting down the House elves who kept the incense away – quite a tough task since the House elves were running around the manor putting Yule decorations into place.

Remus took a glance at Harry's frantic packing motions and blinked uncertainly, "Are you sure we can get everything packed in time, cub?"

"We have to; Lucius and the others will be here once they find all the stuff we need as well," Harry tied another perfectly symmetrical bow on another basket, "And I think I asked for someone else to help…"

"Please don't tell me this is the reason I'm invited early instead of Christmas dinner tomorrow?" Neville's dismayed voice came from the doorway.

"Right on time, Nev!" Harry gave him a splendid smile, "Just when we need you!"

Neville sat down and joined in with the packing after greeting Remus, "I'm feeling very jealous of Ron and Hermione right now."

"Ron has to help Mrs. Weasley at home and Hermione's with her parents in Muggle London," Harry raised a brow, "Or maybe you'd prefer to de-gnome the garden with Ron?"

Neville's face paled dramatically, "No thanks, I'd choose this over dealing with those ferocious things! I hate it when they appear in my garden and yard! They keep spoiling my experiments which makes my Gran real angry…"

"Actually I'm a little surprised your grandmother agreed for you to come here," Harry admitted.

"Gran passed the Lord title to me just yesterday, she said that I had to make my own decisions now," Neville shrugged his shoulders, "I told her that I accepted the Malfoys' invitation and she didn't say anything. To be truthful, I thought she even looked quite happy about it."

Harry nodded. Augusta Longbottom was a great woman with a strong family pride, and he had this feeling that she has a clear idea of how the situation between the Light and Dark stands now. Of course, the fiasco at the Department of Mysteries, and the fact that Neville received the top score in Herbology O.W.L.s seemed to have increased her confidence in Neville a lot.

"But somehow I'm having a nagging feeling that Gran seems to know about the Strangers and us," Neville lined the apples and oranges neatly as he muttered, "She hinted to me that I made a good choice and she will support me all the way… Do you know she even winked at me and promised to keep the secret that would make my parents proud?"

Quickly curbing his laughter when Neville levelled a glare at him, Harry explained, "Your grandmother must have gone to Gringotts before she decided for you to take on the full Lordship title, haven't she? The Goblins probably mentioned something alike to her; Ragnok has been hogging me about not spreading the influence of the Sanctuary enough."

Ragnok has been complaining non-stop about their small circle of network for a while now, he wouldn't be too surprised if Ragnok has been sending feelers out to test the responses of potential supporters and allies. Moreover, the Goblins were a paranoid lot of creatures, if they chose to share hints about the Sanctuary with someone, that person must have earned their trust and at least a meagre amount of respect – as Ragnok would put it.

Neville visibly relaxed, "I was still wondering whether I gave anything away in my letters or something." The Sanctuary was still too young to be ousted as a third party to the war, not to mention how the Wizarding World might think of them due to the involvement of magical creatures – not as slaves or servants, but as allies.

Harry nodded, his main concern about the Sanctuary now was the lack of a strong leadership figure. Voldemort was undeniably the king and commander of the Dark side, Dumbledore the backbone and soul of the Light side.

He didn't have enough public recognition to compete against their influence on the people – his status as the Boy-Who-Lived and the Saviour was still merely young and naïve relative to theirs, he wouldn't expect others to take too kindly to him if he announced that he was going to lead a third side to the war, instead of supporting Dumbledore. Given his experience with people accusing him of being the Heir of Slytherin (not that it was wrong, though) in Second Year, and of being a liar last year – he didn't want to try his luck.

Not to mention that he needed more information on Voldemort, although he really wasn't looking forward to meeting with the Headmaster any time now.

Seeing that Remus had moved to the other side of the room to allow them a little more privacy – even though Remus was one of the first few that Harry recruited into the Sanctuary, his main duty was to liaise between them and the werewolves. He couldn't meet Harry in person too often, so he wasn't involved in many of the main decisions – Harry nudged Neville gently, "Were you Chosen?"

Neville raised a brow but did not answer, shoving the basket of fruits into Harry's lap instead.

"You are," It wasn't a question, merely a confirmation.

"Don't you already know? You don't look surprised," Neville replied dryly, "You probably knew it before I even Inherited."

Harry grinned. He did have an inkling of Neville being one of the God's Choices when they were in the ritual preparing to remove Lucius and Severus' Dark Mark, but he wasn't too sure just then – of course, his suspicions was confirmed when Mother Magic spoke to him after the ritual.

Wizarding traditions were mainly derived from the Celtic divinities, and although known by few, the Ancient Gods would, once in a while, choose a witch or wizard from their preferred bloodline to patronise, allowing them to borrow some of their divine power. At the same time, the Gods would have a direct link to the mortal world, where their Choices would defend their honour and carry out their responsibilities to maintain the balance and order of the Wizarding World – even if the number of actual interaction between the Gods and their Choices could be as few as only once in the entirety of their lifetime. Of course, some Gods take it very seriously and check on their Choices every once in a while. These witches or wizards are better known as God's Choices, for those who have at least heard of them.

Mother Magic was the overruling power over even the Ancient Gods, but She does not pick a Choice. Every magical child is her Child, but she would occasionally have a favoured child – and Harry is her favourite Childe, her Electa. Despite her status, she couldn't interfere directly with the Wizarding World, she can only bestow gifts and advice to her Magical Children, and they choose to carry out her will. That was the situation with Harry's scar, she couldn't remove it for Harry but she did advise him of the possible sources he should seek to find a suitable purification ritual.

One of the reasons that Harry chose to work with the Goblins and establish the Sanctuary was also that it was Mother Magic's wish – to destroy the warring situation at hand, and re-establish a new order in the Wizarding World.

"I did think that you had the qualities for being one of God's Choices, but…" Harry quirked a brow, "I would never have expected Morrigan."

"Neither did I," Neville shrugged. He was in a complete shock when he entered the Inheritance ritual under Ragnok's assistance; he could probably accept it easier if it was Dian Cecht or Brigid, but when he saw Morrigan with Badb following her, his mind went absolutely blank.

In actual fact, he couldn't really remember what happened after that, only that he had a rather unexplainable feeling of connectedness to the Unknown. And of course, the visits from Morrigan in his dreams.

Harry studied him for a moment but didn't comment further. He thought of how Neville stood up against them back in First Year, and how he fought in the Department of Mysteries last year, and then the contented look on his face as he spoke to and soothed the ferocious plants in a rage along their Silva defence line… well, perhaps it isn't entirely unexpected for Morrigan to patronise him either.

"Harry Potter!"

Without even taking a look at door, Harry recognised the booming voice in an instant. "Ragnok? You're early."

"Master Harry Potter, I apologises, I be saying that Master Harry Potter is busy, but…" The House elf following behind Ragnok was nearly in tears, she tried so hard to stop them at the foyer, but the group of Goblin warriors forced their way through anyway.

"It's alright, Mizzy, you can go back to work," Harry dismissed her, knowing very well that Goblins, especially hard-headed ones like Ragnok, had little care for human etiquette and niceties.

Ragnok took a sweeping glance at the mess around the room, and with a raised eyebrow, he sounded a little bemused, "Is this all you have achieved? Magic, Harry Potter, magic!"

Harry rolled his eyes, "You remember being the one telling me that Yule gifts have to be manually sorted because using magic removes the natural magic in these things? Ragnok, perhaps your age is starting to become a burden…"

"Nonsense, I am at the perfect age for a strong Goblin warrior!" Ragnok puffed his chest, ignoring the raised eyebrows from his fellow Goblins.

Harry pushed the baskets towards the Goblins and gave them a welcoming (or actually, calculating) smile, "Well then, O' Mighty Goblin Warriors, do save us all from distress, and aid us all in packing the wondrous gifts of Yule!"

Seeing the dismayed look on their faces, Neville and Remus didn't even bother hiding their laughter – the Gringotts tellers notwithstanding, all of them knew very well that Goblin warriors were far from being organised and domestic.

And that concludes this chapter! Read and Review, please :D

YUU

I'm not telling anyone what "nghariyf" means yet, maybe someone can take a guess? It'll be revealed, perhaps a number of chapters later.

*Morrigan is a war deity, Dian Cecht is the God of Healing, Brigid is a God who engages in healing and poetry, and Badb is also a war deity, often considered in combination with Morrigan.

Review Responses:

tam418, Yana5, lilly-flower15, Sailor Tala, gojyo-lover20, Miyu Kokomi, countrylovinfangirl, DarkRavie, aliengirlguy, Lina03, MargaritaS, ynfoldfogee, Silv3rfox, The arithmancer, serenityselena, rigger42, Daemonia Azrael Di Oz, Calmzone1, LoneWolfsRage, dantexsin, MsBloodlove - Thank you for reviewing! I hope that this chapter is equally enjoyable for you too!

daithi4377 - Thanks! I wanted to give a deeper look into their emotions, that's why I wrote it as part of the ritual :) The snakes part was actually the only concrete idea I had when I first started writing this fanfiction - the image simply popped into my head. I'm glad that you liked it. Unfortunately, the snakes are not going to be featured heavily, they'll only appear for a while a few chapters down, I think. Hope you enjoy this chapter too!

Gracealma - Yes, so here is the scene where Lucius helps him get use to physical intimacy. Dumbledore will be addressed a few chapter later in my plan.

Slythindorgirl1 - Thanks for the strong support :) I've been missing not really because of work, but rather because of my internship, though - there goes my holiday... They might get a bit jealous of each other, and I might add this in to future chapters. Public declaration will be coming up soon.

Catgirl04 - Yes, I'll definitely explain more about Dumbledore in one (or a few) of the future chapters. Slytherins have definitely been the underdog (well, they were the bad guys), so I'm trying to change their image :)

LiquidCrystal - Thank you! It's nice to see someone give such positive comments to my story! Well, I hate repeating stuff, so I tend to skip scenes, rather than repeat it... Hope you like this chapter too!

becca579 - Thank you! I'm glad I gained another reader, too! Are you sure there are actually nice places to end the chapter? ;D What do you think of this chapter?

Peetato1989 - Well, you are certainly welcomed to fight for Draco's rights :) Though I wasn't thinking of it being the father of monsters, but rather it being one of the most fearsome monsters - Draco needs to be fearsome for Harry and the Sanctuary, right? ;D

Quixling - Wow, I didn't think the House talk might be so insightful... Thank you!

Rose British - Thank you for the enthusiasm! Hope that your neurons are alright :D Yupp, I try to keep the characters close to canon, although some of them have already escaped my control... Dumbledore is just another complex character wandering in the grey regions of right and wrong. Hmm, Voldemort might or might not die - depending on my mood xp

Rossy-Oriana-Black - ...pardon me if I say all the wrong things irrelevant to your comment - I can only rely on google translate to do the work for me :( Thank you for the support! I hope that my characters do stay in character, and doesn't do much stupid things... Harry's talk with Dumbledore is already in my plans... are you asking me not to write it? _

medward - I see you have gone through the 20 chapters in one go, thanks for all the comments! Hmm, actually I didn't write who bound Harry's magic yet though, and why Harry's abuse wasn't picked up, Dumbledore's not all the evil really... Mother Magic can't remove the horcrux within Harry directly, but she has advice...

Trustyfox - Not yet, but the regrowing of the bones will be in one of the chapter ahead.

Dreamweaver - Mother Magic won't be able to just remove the horcrux, but Harry will get rid of it (together with his suitors) when they start horcurx-hunting.

Jamage - Thank you! Yes, Dumbledore is just... well, practical and utilitarian. He probably hoped for the best, and wanted Harry to live, despite his plans. That's why he appeared to talk to Harry when he was killed by Voldemort in the Final Battle, perhaps? I hope you'll still like it when I write about Harry's talk with Dumbledore a few chapters later.

Lauren Saint - Slughorn is not involved here. Dumbledore actually already knows about the horcruxes in my fanfic, although it's really more of deductions on his part. But yes, horcruxes will be part of the story later.

CityofBlood - Thank you so much! I feel so reassured :) I will endeavour to maintain my writing!

babyvfan - Thank you. I might write a small sidestory about how Harry confronted his friends about his horrible summer - it was subsumed in the talk about the Sanctuary, but I never really wrote it out. Maybe I should?

SnapesAndCarlislesEternalLover - Sorry for making you worry that I might be giving up on this story - well, the three months I disappeared was because of my internship throughout the vacation, and with school re-opening and all, I needed a bit more time to recover my momentum in writing non-work related stuff. Thank you for the concern, though. It's really sweet :)