Summary:
Previously on 'I Do What I Want' (That sounded cooler in my head)
"Now what does the stone have to do with your first year?" Lucius asked the question that he wanted to know earlier. Part of him would always be the concerned parent of the Board of Governors. Severus said that Harry had seen it? It better not have been in the school. He would raise some hell if he found out that the Ministry allowed the stone inside a bloody school.
Harry and Draco shared uneasy feelings through the bond.
"During our first year, Dumbledore had gotten wind that Voldemort wanted the Sorcerer's Stone. So he sent word out to Flamel and they agreed to hold it in Gringotts. When Dumbledore feared the safety of the stone, he had it moved to Hogwarts. I was at Gringotts with Hagrid when they took the stone out of the vault. I didn't know that it was the stone at that time." Lucius and Narcissa shared a look of disbelief.
"Are you trying to tell me that Dumbledore allowed the Sorcerer's Stone inside the school?" Lucius demanded angrily and in disbelief. He couldn't believe it. Lucius wished he could revive the man just to give him a piece of his mind. Harry nodded wearily.
"The stone is incredibly dark and dangerous and he just let it sit inside the school? That doesn't make sense. Why would the Flamels hand over the stone in the first place? They are nearly 700 years old, Dumbledore was what 150? They have lived through so many generations of magic. 150 is like a child compared to them. Not to mention how dark they are. Why would they trust Dumbledore with their stone? That makes absolutely no sense to me. They haven't been seen for years. Putting the stone in the school would be like putting it into The Dark Lords lap. Keeping the stone wherever it was before worked for the last 700 years. Why change it?"
Harry was blown away by his questions. Why had he never thought of that before. It made sense the more he thought about it. Why would they have let Dumbledore take it? The stone hadn't been found before. Placing it in school sounded stupid. Even if you were to ignore the fact that is a dark artifact. Why would you place something you know Voldemort is looking for inside a school with hundreds of innocent school children?
"Was it even real?" The surprising question came from Remus. Everyone turned to stare at him. "If you believe that the Flamels wouldn't have given Dumbledore the stone then that must mean the one in the school was a fake. Or, they really did give him the stone and it really was in the school."
Harry wasn't sure which was correct. He felt like his mind had been dumped out on the floor and stomped on. He was ready to implode. So many questions and no answers. "It better bloody well have been real! I nearly died protecting it!" At the startled looks he was receiving he decided he better get back to the story.
"Ron, Hermione and I came across Fluffy one night by accident."
Severus snorted while everyone else looked confused. "You would come across that thing by accident." He said with amusement. Harry grinned at him a little surprised that they were being friendly with each other.
"And what is a fluffy?" Lucius asked curling his mouth in distaste at saying such a hufflepuff word.
"It's a three-headed dog that was meant to guard the entrance to the stone." Lucius lifted his brows in surprise.
"A Cerberus?" Remus let out a low whistle. "That is an incredibly rare creature."
Harry shrugged. "It was Hagrids. He said he let Dumbledore borrow it." Lucius let out a low moan. "He would have something so dangerous and call it fluffy." Harry's mouth twitched in effort to not laugh.
"Hermione was the one to notice that it had been standing on a trap door. The thing nearly bit our heads off. Did you know it took a simple Alohomora to open the door that led to it?" Harry shook his head in bewilderment at that thought. You would think that a creature like that would have been harder to get to.
Lucius and Remus narrowed their eyes. Dumbledore shouldn't have had a creature like that inside a school to begin with. One of them could have died that night. A simple unlocking charm? That was just asking for trouble. What had the man been thinking?
"Draco and I had received detention with Hermione and Neville."
Draco winced. "Yeah not one of my best moments." Harry laughed warmly. "You abandoned me!"
"I was eleven! And scared shitless. There was some thing drinking unicorn blood slithering around in the forest at night. Nope. That was a definite get the fuck out of there moment. I assumed you would have turned around and hightailed it out of there too! If that thing was going to attack one of us, all I had to do was be faster than you. Self-preservation and all. Besides, I saved Fang, didn't I? I think that deserves some recognition."
Harry started chuckling. He couldn't help it. "You saved a dog over me Draco." The room erupted in laughter.
Draco grinned sheepishly. "Sorry?" He offered weakly. Harry shook his head but leaned back to kiss Draco's cheek. "You are lucky I love you." Draco just grinned in response. He knew how lucky he was to have Harry.
"Who was drinking unicorn blood?" Remus asked wrinkling his nose. Only an idiot would do such a thing. Why would you want to live a cursed life? Someone very desperate. They would've had to have known what drinking it would do.
"Voldemort. Well Quirrell but he had Voldemort on the back of his head… so same thing." The room had gone silent. All humor gone.
"That is when I found that unicorn blood will keep someone alive even if they were close to death. I realized that it was Voldemort and that he wanted the stone. I knew someone was trying to take it." Harry left out that he had thought it was Snape. They were finally getting along… somewhat. He didn't want to ruin that.
"Hermione insisted that the stone was safe inside the school. It wasn't until after talking to Hagrid and he let it slip that he told some stranger in a pub how to get past Fluffy that I knew there was a problem. I tried telling Professor McGonagall that someone was going to take it that night. I just knew it. I could tell. But she wouldn't listen to me. Maybe it was my age? Or she believed like Hermione that the stone was safe inside Hogwarts."
"Minerva didn't believe you?" Severus asked lifting a brow. That wasn't like his colleague. He wasn't even going to ask why they didn't warn him, it wasn't like Potter would come to him for help.
"If she did that wasn't something she let me know. Anyways, after I couldn't convince her that someone really was after the stone, I decided I would protect it myself." The looks of disbelief were seen all around.
"I know. I was only eleven but I already had a hero complex. So Ron, Hermione and I made our way over to Fluffy. Quirrell had already been there. Which just proved to my friends that we really were doing the right thing. We went down the trap and landed in devils snare. Hermione got us out of that." Remus jerked in shock.
"Why in the world was there devils snare inside the school?" Remus was honestly questioning the sanity of Dumbledore. Sweet Merlin, the odds that the three first years hadn't died that year went against all statistics and logic.
"The teachers all added their own traps to ensure that the stone would be safe. That one was Pomonas." Severus explained. He agreed with Lupin's outrage. He had told Dumbledore that the school was not the place to house the Sorcerer's Stone. He didn't like knowing the thing was there. He shuddered at the thought of such an evil thing being in the place he lived and worked.
"We got past Flitwick's charms. He had charmed keys to a locked door to fly. We had to figure out which one unlocked the door. Then came Professor McGonagall's transfiguration traps. It was a game of live wizard's chess. Ron got injured while we played. He sacrificed himself so that we could continue on. There was a troll from Professor Quirrell. That had already been taken care of. Hermione and I entered your trap Professor Snape. It was the hardest one out of all of them." Severus had a smug smile. Of course it was. Like anything he would produce would have been simple. Silly Gryffindor.
"I would have been screwed without Hermione. I had thought your trap would've been about potions. Which I still would have been screwed if it had been. But it was all logic and quite difficult. Hermione took a bit to figure it out but there was only enough of the potion to send me forward. So I sent her back to take Ron to the hospital wing and to get help. When I made it to the room where Quirrell was, he ended up revealing that Voldemort was on the back of his head. Man, what an ugly sight." Draco and the twins snorted. Lucius and Severus grimaced.
"This was Dumbledore's trap. It was the Mirror of Erised." Narcissa gasped and Lucius blinked rapidly.
"What is that?" Pansy and Blaise asked in unison.
"Another Dark Artifact." Severus said slowly. He had known it was a part of the traps but it still surprised him to think about it. He had protested the admittance of such an artifact in the school but as usual, his complaints fell on deaf ears.
Harry thought for sure that they were done surprising him but nope they kept managing it.
"How?" Harry asked a little desperately.
"The mirror shows you your deepest darkest desires. The things you want most in life. Ones that you didn't even know you had or wanted. Things that you may have pushed down and tried to bury because you don't want to think about it. They say the happiest man on earth would see himself just like any other mirror would show. But the Mirror will always find something that you want. It's a trap within itself. It is meant to lure you in so that you can discover just what it is you want. And if what you want is unmanageable, then it will lure you into coming back over and over so that you waste away trying to see what you will never have." Severus explained bitterly. He had refused to go anywhere near the mirror. Some of the other teachers had checked it out when it first got there, saying it couldn't be that dark if Dumbledore allowed in the school. But Severus wasn't stupid. It was a dark artifact for a reason.
Harry shifted uncomfortably. He recalled Dumbledore's words. 'Men have wasted away before it, not knowing if what they have seen is real, or even possible'
When the mirror had shown him his parents he had wanted it so desperately. He wished and longed for the life he could've had if his parents had lived. Ron had wanted to be the best out of all of his brothers. That was a goal that was obtainable. That was something that he could have if he worked hard for it. That was why the mirror never held Ron's interest. The mirror was designed for the people that wanted things they could never have. Harry had been the perfect person for it. He fell for its lure. He came back night after night hoping to see his parents again. Harry blinked back tears. Curse Dumbledore for putting that stupid thing in a school!
Draco could feel the emotions coming from Harry. He turned Harry slightly so that Harry's head rested in his neck. Draco ran his fingers through his hair. Everyone turned to look at them in interest. "It's alright love." Draco whispered to him. He wished they could have a moment of privacy but this wasn't the time or place for that.
Harry clenched his eyes shut and tried to focus on the love and comfort Draco was giving him. But it was difficult. He felt violated. The mirror used his desires for his parents against him. Dumbledore knew about it and didn't even tell him. Sure, he persuaded Harry to not go looking for the mirror again but he didn't tell him it was a dark artifact! He didn't tell him that he had already fallen victim to it!
"You found the mirror." It was a statement not a question. Harry nodded against Draco's neck. "Before it was moved to the room where Quirrell was, it was in an old classroom. I stumbled across it by accident." Harry ignored Snape's mumbling of 'Of course you did.'
"I had no idea what it was but I was drawn to it. I-it showed me my parents. That's what I wanted the most. That was my deepest desire." Harry blinked rapidly to hold off the tears.
Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably. They were witnessing a private moment between the two. Remus and Narcissa's heart clenched at Harry's words. Remus couldn't imagine what his own image would be but Harry's desire to have his parents was heart breaking. Most people would want material things or to have power that would normally be unobtainable but all sweet Harry wanted was to see his parents. It was a saddening but yet humbling to hear.
"I couldn't have that Draco. It did lure me in. I kept going back hoping to see my parents again. I wanted that so bad. It was almost like a drug. But then one night Dumbledore found me in the room and told me that the mirror was moving to a new resting place and not to go looking for it. He never once told me that it was a dark artifact. He never once told me that I had already fallen under the mirrors charms. I even told him what I saw and he still let me walk out without explaining." Harry's voice cracked.
Draco held Harry tighter. Comforting Harry was like second nature. "I won't make excuses for him because I couldn't come up with one if I tried. I know how important Dumbledore was to you. I know how much you looked up to him at that time. He may have had a reason. Perhaps he was unsure how to tell you. You were eleven. I don't think the mirror should have been where anyone could stumble across it. I think the mirror should have been in the final resting place the whole time. Or not in the school in the first place." Draco paused unsure if he wanted to say this with so many ears listening.
"I know I can't give you the family that you should've had or maybe even the family that you deserve. But you are my everything Harry. You are my family and I can be your family if you want." Harry shuddered and the tears he had been holding came down.
Harry turned in Draco's lap till he was straddling him. He pressed his forehead against Draco's and stared into his eyes.
Draco was blown away by the sheer love Harry was feeling right now. It rendered him speechless.
"Draco." Harry whispered reverently. "You are my family. You are my whole world. That was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me. Gods I love you. So fucking much." Harry rasped before slamming his lips against Draco's.
Most of the viewers had been smiling at the sweetness of the pair were now grimacing as the kiss became hot and heavy.
Draco melted as Harry's love and lust slammed into him. He opened his mouth eagerly as their tongues tangled. Draco's hands were roaming all over Harry's back. They were about to reach down and caress Harry's arse when several loud coughs interrupted them.
Pansy and Fred both let out disappointed noises. "I was enjoying that." They said in unison and then turned to grin at each other. George and Blaise both rolled their eyes at their partners.
"Well I wasn't" Lucius said firmly. Salazar that was a sight he never wanted to see again. Groping with so many witnesses was so uncouth. Save it for the bedroom. Or somewhere far away… where he wouldn't have to be witness to it. He knew Draco knew better than that.
Harry pecked Draco's lips before turning around on his lap. Harry could feel Draco's interest at his wiggling. It took all he had not to grind downward. Later, he chastised himself. Draco had to bite his lip from moaning at the feel of Harry's arse wiggling against his groin.
"Sorry." Harry mumbled not the least bit repentant. They were all family after all. They would have to get used to it eventually, because they weren't going to stop any time soon.
"Please continue with the story." Narcissa kindly asked. She found her husband's discomfort amusing. As a teenager, he had not been so dignified. She remembered many instances where they hadn't behaved as proper purebloods should. Nearly gave Abraxas a heart attack when he caught them skinny dipping. Ah that was a fond memory. Too bad the old man hadn't croaked right then and there.
"Right. Quirrell was trying to figure out how to get the stone out of the mirror. Voldemort told him to use me to get it out. I had sent all the energy I could into finding the stone before Voldemort so that I could protect it. When I looked into the mirror, I saw myself putting the stone into my pocket. As soon as my mirror self did that, I felt the weight of the stone against my leg." Harry heard gasps.
"Quirrell asked me what I saw and I tried lying but Voldemort knew I was lying. He told me to hand over the stone but I wouldn't. Quirrell and I struggled, I had to hold onto the stone tightly to make sure that he wouldn't get it. I had a protection on me that prevented either one of them from touching me. Quirrell ended up dying and Voldemort fled. The last thing I remember was fading out of consciousness with the stone clutched in my grasp."
Lucius made a strangled noise, it sounded like a cross between a fish out of water and a dying animal. "You touched it? You actually touched it?" Lucius asked a little hysterically. Severus, Narcissa and Lucius leaned far away from Harry as possible in their chairs.
Harry furrowed his brows. "Well yeah. Why?" He found their reactions to be a little funny. Lucius reminded him of a priest he saw on the telly once. The priest had been called in to exercise a ghost. The man had holy water in a container and was spraying it all over the room chanting 'The power of Christ compels you' over and over again. Harry feared that Lucius was going to chant some odd ritual and cast Harry out of the house.
"You aren't supposed to make skin contact with it." Severus breathed wearily. Lucius and Severus shared a worried look that set Harry and Draco on edge.
"What happens if you do?" Draco pressed nervously. He was worried for Harry. It had been nearly 7 years ago but still.
"What you must understand is that when doing dark rituals, the number one rule is no skin contact. It doesn't matter what the spell or potion is that is involved in the ritual, it is essential that you never touch the artifact in question. Doing so will corrupt the ritual. Even after the ritual is done you should never touch the artifact without some type of glove protecting you. Dragonhide preferably. Depending on the level of dark magic that was placed in the artifact it can resonate with the person on a personal level if skin contact has been made." Lucius was startled by the gasps that Draco and Harry let out.
"What kind of resonating are we talking about?" Harry said slowly. Lucius didn't like the sound of his voice.
"Dark resonates with Dark. The darker the item the more it can amplify your already dark tendencies. No offense to the Black family but why do you think they were so… mad? Their entire house is filled with Dark Artifacts that they were constantly around and touching. Even the house elf would have been affected if he cleaned them." Severus sent an apologetic look towards Narcissa but she just waved it off. She knew exactly how nuts her family had been, especially Bellatrix.
"Then why did they have them littered around the place? Wouldn't they have known to not touch them?" Harry asked confused but also incredibly glad that he and Kreacher had stripped the place when cleaning. The dark artifacts had been moved to the basement but now Harry was thinking about getting them out of the house permanently. Maybe he could move them to his vault in Gringotts.
Narcissa snorted. "What you must understand about the Black family was that they were proud of their heritage." Harry raised an eyebrow, that much had been painfully obvious.
"They pride themselves on their heritage so much that they want it on display for everyone to see. Most darker families have a room dedicated to dark artifacts. It is one that is kept out of the way and hard to come by unless you know where it is. That is not to hide the artifacts if Aurors were ever to search the house, although that is a side perk. The reason they are to be kept away from the rest of the house is the dark magic. Like Lucius said Dark resonates with Dark. It can latch onto you and change subtle things about you. It starts off small, like unknown anger or rash behavior. Then it starts changing your personality. You start doing things that you normally wouldn't but you can't bring yourself to care. Then you start becoming mad. Like the Black family. They weren't the only family to not head the older teachings. Other Dark families became just as mad." Narcissa said sadly.
Harry stopped breathing for a moment. Would that explain his own anger issues that used to pop up? Because of the resonating and the fact that he was a Horcrux of already Dark magic? Is that why the locket affected Ron so badly? Harry had thought the reason was because it had been a Horcrux was enough of a reason. He didn't realize that skin contact was a way for the dark magic to come out and connect to any darkness that Ron may have had. Would that also explain why Bellatrix was as daft as a brush and completely mental? Or why Sirius had gotten so despondent and reckless during his last year at Grimwald?
"Which is why we reacted like that. For example, take a charmed mirror, say it has been through a ritual to enable the user to spy on an unknown victim. The magic it would take is not as Dark as sacrificial Dark magic. The type of Dark magic it took to create the Sorcerer's Stone is beyond Dark. Blood magic, sacrificial magic, alchemy, and even soul magic. And that is just the known Dark magic. I can't even begin to tell you everything that was added to it. Because only the Flamels know that. If a Dark wizard had touched the stone, then I would fear what would happen to them. I imagine they would make the Black family look like the perfect picture of health. The smallest amount of darkness inside you would have resonated with the stone's Dark magic. Which again, explains our reactions."
Harry and Draco shared horrified looks. Which confused the rest of the room. It wasn't like Harry had anything to worry about. He wasn't a Dark wizard. Severus started breathing rapidly which startled the rest of the room.
Harry and Draco looked to Severus hoping he caught onto their dilemma. "You think that it resonated with…" He trailed off pointedly staring at Harry. The three of them were all thinking of the bit of Voldemort inside of Harry. When the two nodded nervously Severus stood up cursing as he began to pace.
Harry swallowed thickly. The Horcrux itself was incredibly Dark magic. The idea that the Dark magic in the stone resonated with Harry's scar, disturbed him greatly. He shivered in fear. Had the Dark magic corrupted him? Did the piece of Voldemort's soul become stronger with the help of the stone's magic?
"It makes sense." Harry snapped his head up staring at Severus with an incredulous look. Severus shook his head. "I had always wondered why the connection was so powerful. At the time I just assumed that since no one else in existence had such a cursed scar before that there was no saying how powerful it could be. I just wrote it off something unusual. But now… now it makes sense. Whether he had his body back or not your connection should have been the same as when he was in Hogwarts during your first year. It shouldn't have increased just because he had a new form. The connection grew stronger after you touched the stone. You wouldn't have noticed that it had changed until you came into contact with him. I can't believe I didn't suspect sooner."
Harry and Draco stared at Severus lost in thought. The rest of the room was a mix of confusion and horror. They understood the implications that Severus was saying but they didn't understand how his scar could have resonated with the stone.
A sudden thought occurred to Harry that made him freeze and so much horror fill him that it made Draco let out a squeak. Harry panted harshly as his eyes went wide.
"Harry?" Came the tentative voice of Remus. Harry ignored him. He turned his head towards Severus.
"I-I didn't have gloves with the… err… items." Draco and Severus gasped in horror. Draco covered his mouth with his hands. Severus's hand was twitching.
Those who knew Severus snapped to awareness. Lucius narrowed his eyes. He knew the subtle masks and signs of his longtime friend. His friend was shaken to his core.
"Please tell me you are joking. Please tell me that you didn't touch them Potter. Please." The last word was said with such pleading it made everyone nervous.
Harry shook his head rapidly. "Oh Merlin, not even second year. I wrote to it. I fucking wrote to it." Severus sucked in a sharp breath.
"One of them was sentient?" He asked wearily.
"Sort of. Memories mainly of its host. But yeah. It was sentient. I-I had it for a while. Talking to it. It even showed me a memory." Harry was stricken. He had no idea what this all meant or what that had to do with him.
"Fuck." Lucius and Narcissa startled. Severus was never one to curse. He said it was uncouth. And it was.
Severus ran his fingers through his hair. "That would require some type of exchange. It wouldn't have had the magical substance to be able to communicate like that." Harry closed his eyes in despair.
"Sacrifice." Snape and everyone jerked in shock. "It was taking the life of another student before it came to me. It was slowly seeping their life force to gain its sentience."
"Are you talking about Ginny?" George demanded. It was the only thing that was making sense. Harry and Severus shared considering looks. They couldn't go too much into detail.
"Yes. The diary she had been talking to was a very Dark artifact. The more the diary gained sentience the more she was losing her life essence." Harry said quietly not meeting the twins' looks.
Fred and George narrowed their eyes. They had no idea what exactly was being talked about. Only that something very Dark came in contacted with Harry more than once and it also apparently had been stealing their sister's life! They glared at Lucius.
Lucius's eyes widened. "What exactly was this diary?" He whispered in fear. The twins shared a look. So Lucius hadn't known what it could do. That was something, at least.
Harry looked to Draco. The question in Harry's eyes was obvious. Draco shrugged a little letting Harry come to the decision on his own.
"Lucius what kind of soul magic are you aware of?" Lucius tilted his head to the side considering the question. "There are all kinds but if you are insinuating that the diary dealt in soul magic that would be impossible." Lucius paused and then his eye's widened.
"No." He whispered in fear and disgust. Lucius slumped back in his chair inelegantly. Narcissa gasped upon realization, she visibly shivered. "Please tell me that I did not have that thing in my house?" She begged.
Harry looked up at her sympathetically and she whimpered, covering her mouth.
"And you touched it? Wrote in it? Oh merlin the Weasley girl too. If I had known what that thing was I never would have put it in my house. I may have followed his teachings and ideas but that type of dark magic is so beyond repugnant. It is evil. I know that sounds hypocritical coming from a dark wizard but it is. Salazar. The stone and that thing are so bad I can't decide which one is worse." Lucius breathed out regrettably.
Lucius turned to the Weasley twins. "I swear to you, if I had known just what I was giving her, I never would have done it. I honestly thought it was a normal diary that had seen a failed ritual. Stupid of me. I ran all kinds of spells on it but nothing came back." Fred and George still didn't understand the full magnitude of the situation but they could see the honesty on his face and his voice.
Remus was thoroughly confused. He was barely understanding what was happening. Harry touched something that had Dark powerful soul magic in it? And it somehow connected to his scar and the connection with Voldemort. He wished they were making more sense.
Severus turned to Harry. "Please tell me it was the only one you touched." Lucius and Narcissa jerked. "Are you saying there was more than one?"
"Seven." Draco whispered. Lucius jumped up in shock. "Which included me." Harry said more to himself than the rest of the room.
Narcissa's eyes filled with tears as Lucius gaped at him. Lucius couldn't figure out how a living Horcrux would have even worked. Let alone what kind of side effects that would place on the person. Merlin, Harry could have turned out to be the darkest wizard the world has ever seen. Especially since he touched the stone.
"That's why…." Narcissa said trying to curb the urge to pull Harry into a hug. "I wondered why you walked to him that night. I couldn't understand it. I knew it had to be more than his taunts." Narcissa closed her eyes tightly. She couldn't imagine walking to your death to get rid of something so vile inside your body. The chances of coming back from that were so astronomical. This 17-year-old boy had the courage to walk to his death to rid the world of The Dark Lord. This incredibly sweet and caring person lived through being a Horcrux and touching the stone and he came out unscathed. How?
Lucius blinked at Harry rapidly. His mind was having a hard time processing this. The Dark Lord made 7 Horcruxes. The thought alone made shudders wrack through his body. The pure evil of the ritual it takes to create one is horrific. It is more than just murder that splits the soul. Vile. To think that he followed a man who would willingly create a Horcrux filled him with shame. To go to that extremes made him realize that even though The Dark Lord talked the big talk about regaining the wizarding world, his ultimate goal had been himself. Someone who would go to that kind of lengths to ensure immortality could never have anyone else's interests in mind. No. The Dark Lord and the Flamels were nearly the same in how selfishly evil they were.
Lucius stared at the enigma of Harry Potter. He couldn't figure out how the boy could have touched the Horcruxes and the Sorcerer's Stone without there being a backlash. Severus mentioned the scar being the key to the connection to them. So, the stone caused the connection to grow stronger but that wasn't nearly enough of a side effect to counter the Dark magic in the items. It didn't make sense.
Harry nodded but chose not to answer. He didn't like talking about that night. Remus's brows furrowed. What had Harry done during the battle at Hogwarts? He knew that Harry had gone to search out Voldemort on his own. But were they implying that Harry willingly died to get rid of something inside him?
"Why am I not effected?" Harry asked Severus.
Severus sighed. "Who's to say you aren't?" Draco glared when he felt Harry's panic. "What I am trying to say is that there is really no way to know if there has been any side effects that go against the normal ones. You haven't gone mad nor had any drastic personality changes. Those are the typical ones. It's possible that such prolong exposure of your… scar that when you touched the stone and the rest of the items that you were in a way immune? I don't know Harry." The admission cost him a lot. Harry could tell. Well what a morbid turn of events.
"Is anyone going to explain?" The twins asked in unison. Those who knew what was going on all replied with a "No"
Harry saw the disgruntled looks. "Look guys, it is incredibly Dark magic that Voldemort performed. Unless you already know about its existence than I won't be telling you. The knowledge shouldn't be passed around." Lucius and Narcissa agreed wholeheartedly.
He could see the disappointment on their faces and sighed. "It's not like we don't think you aren't trustworthy but believe me, I wish I never knew. It's not for the faint hearted. The more people who know about it, the easier the knowledge could get around."
Reluctant nods were given in reply. Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Remus narrowed his eyes. It went against his nature to let this go. But the knowledge of the Sorcerer's Stone and what it took to create it made him uneasy and sick to his something. If whatever Harry had taken care of was just as bad… maybe it was a good thing that he never find out about it.
Harry's head was still spinning with all this knowledge overload that had been dumped on him. He was worried. Did he really come out okay? Why had he been able to touch the horcruxes and the stone without having anything bad from happening? Well besides his connection with Voldemort get stronger. Was it just a delayed reaction? Would he wake up one day and realize that he had lost his mind and the Dark resonating had taken effect? Harry sighed, he didn't know what to make of this.
"Why did you want to know if the Flamels are still alive?" Remus asked curiously as he remembered that had been why they had this conversation in the first place.
"Because they are soulmates. I wanted to know if they are still alive so that I could talk to them about it. They would be able to shed some light on the whole thing. In the 700 years, they have been alive I am sure they know a lot about it. They might even have books that we could look at." At the startled looks, Harry hurried to reassure them. "Don't worry I won't go looking for them. Not after knowing what kind of people they are."
Remus relaxed. "Good. The world is free of one Dark Lord, we don't need the Flamels to come out of the wood work and become the next one."
Harry frowned, his words had sounded so similar to Skeeter's atrocious article. By the looks on some of the others in the room, he wasn't the only one to make the connection.
Lucius narrowed his eyes. "I didn't realize you found the idea of being with me so horrible Harry."
The room broke out in muffled snickers. Harry flushed. "It wasn't a personal insult. I promise." Lucius raised a lone brow. "It's just that you are my boyfriend's dad. The thought was nauseating."
Draco groaned. Harry was making it worse. "I am nauseating?" Harry gaped for a moment. "No that's not what I meant! Oh gods I am digging my grave deeper." The snickers grew louder.
Harry covered his face with his hands. "You should probably quit while you are behind." Lucius warned. His mouth was twitching. He found Harry's embarrassment quite funny.
Narcissa smacked her husband on the arm. "Lucius leave him be. Harry, he is just messing with you." Harry lifted his head to see amusement in Lucius's face. He glared at the man.
The group spent the rest of the day talking and getting to know each other. Remus found himself really enjoying the Malfoy family. Narcissa was really soft spoken and kind. She cared for her son but chose to do so from the sidelines. He watched the way she would glance at her son with warm eyes but say nothing. It was different. Not the type of mother he had grown up with. Lucius… well that would take some getting used to. He was a quiet man unless it was a subject he knew a lot about it. He didn't argue unless he knew he was right. Which was interesting. A lot of people like to argue just for the sake of an argument. Lucius would never be considered a warm guy. He was too set in his ways, too proud. But Remus was good at watching people. He saw the way Lucius looked at his son and even Harry. Proud. He was proud of the both of them. That was something he wouldn't have thought he would see. Severus was the same bitter, grouchy, and all around snarky git that he had always been. But Remus had always found the man's wit to be funny. Even in school he had never gotten upset at the insults like James and Sirius. He often found himself admiring the insults. It was a language all on its own. Draco was a delightful surprise. Remus believed he got his sense of humor from his godfather. But that was part of his charm. He could see why Harry was so into him. And the love that the two of them had took his breath away every time the duo looked at each other. The quartet. Remus snorted. They were interesting in ways he didn't even want to know. He had no idea what the dynamic was between the four of them but he wasn't even going to ask. Ignorance is bliss in some cases. This was one of those cases. He honestly didn't want to be mentally scarred. No thanks.
Harry's day had started out pretty good and then hit some bumps in the road, but overall it had been wonderful. His mind had been through the ringer. He felt as if almost everything he had ever known had been an omission. Not necessarily a lie. But things hadn't been as they appeared. But the rest of the day, with his family, and merlin did that feel wonderful saying, had been great. As he sat on Draco's lap and watched as everyone laughed at one of the twins' elusive pranks, he really couldn't imagine how his life could possibly get any better. He was still undecided on how he was going to handle the Weasley family but he knew as long as he had these guys that he would be okay.
Authors Notes:
I know this was a lot of information and a lot to think about.
Thoughts on Flamel just handing over the stone? I mean it had been safe for the last 700 years. Who is to say Voldemort would have even found it? And why place it in a school?
What are your thoughts the Mirror? The Mirror has always bugged me by the way it attracted Harry but not Ron. Not to mention Dumbledore's explanation of the mirror. That to me didn't sound like anything good. People wasting away in front of the mirror? What the fuck was it doing inside a school? So this is the idea I came up with. I made it a Dark Artifact. I have not come across that in any other stories but I won't be single minded and think that no one else came up with that idea either. I always thought that Dumbledore's notion of the happiest man on earth would see his reflection, was silly. That sounds like hogwash to me. Lol. I like the idea that it is a Dark Artifact that will always find something to show. With Ron being eleven at the time he would consider what he saw as obtainable. Something that he could someday see happening. I did wonder what someone like Voldemort would have seen if he had come across the mirror as a child. Would it be a family? Or maybe even unobtainable power even then?
Now with the whole Dark resonating with Dark. What are your thoughts? To me it makes sense. Things created in Dark rituals should be handled with care. They are Dark for a reason and I liked the idea that they shouldn't be touched with skin contact. Thoughts on the reason behind the Black family being so insane? With Bellatrix and Sirius, Azkaban would play a big part on their overall sanity but I felt that the Dark Artifacts sounded like a good contributing factor. Also seemed a good explanation for why Kreacher mumbles and is not all the way there. Now with Ginny having touched and wrote in the diary as well, I figure she was just a very innocent and light wizard at eleven. There would be no darkness inside her to resonate.
With Harry's scar I had always thought it was odd that it had started out with just twinges of pain in his first year. You could attribute that to Voldemort just being a spirit of sorts. But then in his fourth year he starts having dreams of Voldemort. Why? Because he was getting stronger? Okay seems plausible. And then after he gained his body back he started having way more dreams and a lot more emotions through their connection. But it kept getting stronger. By the time the seventh book was over their connection had grown pretty strong. I liked the idea of making the reason for this was that after he touched the stone, the connection got stronger explaining the dreams in the fourth one. Then Harry was literally part of the Dark ritual to bring back Voldemort. That would explain why it grew more pronounced. And finally with the last book it got stronger due to Harry touching the Horcruxes. Far fetched? Eh I don't think so. Lol. This is just my thoughts for this story. What do you guys think?
Any thoughts why Harry wouldn't have been affected more? Or do you think the connection with Voldemort getting stronger enough of a reaction? Do you agree with Severus and think that maybe the Horcrux made him immune in a way? Or do you think that when Harry died and got rid of the Horcrux that it also got rid of any lingering darkness from the stone? Do you agree with Harry not telling the others about the Horcruxes? With Narcissa and Lucius being Dark wizards they already knew of the existence. So to talk about it to them didn't seem like a stretch. But to keep the knowledge away from others made sense to me.
-XxTheDarkLordxX