Hello once more. This chapter was inspired by my sexy secretary (A-Pic-A-Poco-Lypse) who especially created the main idea for this chapter! (By this I mean the book of dead part. She resquested me to say this) As always thanks to my reviewers, my beta FragonKnight01 and Dray-Kun
Chapter 26: Halloween
The day of the Halloween masked ball had arrived and Harry found himself seated on Draco's bed sharing a brief moment with his mate. They had both skipped Potions class and snuck into the Slytherin dorms where they could be alone for a short time.
The blond sat down and kissed the Harpy gently, earning a soft purr that made him smile. They had found it increasingly more difficult to be alone. The strain was starting to frazzle their nerves until they were forced to steal such moments as this.
Draco pulled Harry onto his lap, his hands running up the smaller teen's back. "So, do I get a hint as to what you're going as?"
Harry blushed, thinking about the outfit Theo had picked. "No."
Draco saw the blush and grinned. "You're blushing, so it must be something…fun."
Harry's blush turned darker and he buried his face in Draco's shoulder, pouting when Draco laughed softly. "It's not funny." Harry muttered. "It's embarrassing."
Draco's hands moved to cup Harry's face, gently forcing the teen to look him in the eye. "You could never look bad, you're way too beautiful."
Harry smiled and leaned over, capturing the blonde's lips with his own while enjoying the warm feeling that spread through their bodies. When they broke apart Draco's fingers lightly traced the chain of the pendant Harry wore, a gift from his mate.
"You wear it." He smiled.
Harry returned the smile. "Of course."
That evening Theo snuck into the Gryffindor dorm to get ready. He had left his costume there and they waited for the other dorm mates to leave before getting ready with Harry and Hermione.
Hermione had convinced Lavender to let her use her wide assortment of make-up and presented it to the shocked boys.
"Hell no!" Theo protested, crossing his arms. "I'm gay, but I not about to go drag."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm not using it all, just lip gloss and eyeliner."
Theo and Harry exchanged looks. "Fine," Harry agreed, "but only lightly."
"Yeah, nothing too dark." Theo agreed.
Hermione agreed happily and started on Harry while Theo got dressed. True to
her word Hermione kept the make-up light, almost hardly noticeable.
Theo, now fully dressed and looking rather scandalous, looked himself over in the mirror critically. "Think anyone will know it's me?"
"Probably will. I don't think any guy in Hogwarts would be brave enough to dress in such a… noticeable fashion." Hermione smiled, starting on his make-up.
"I'll take that as a compliment." Theo sniffed, sitting patiently.
Harry got dressed slowly, still self conscious about how he looked. Being a Harpy hardly helped his courage in appearance. He embarrassedly fixed the mask in place, making sure it sealed his identity. Lastly he clasped the pendant from Draco around his neck, wearing it openly for the first time.
"You gonna wear your wings out?" Theo asked when he had pulled his mask on.
Harry shrugged. "Maybe, I don't know, they're pretty big."
"You could just keep them half folded in." Hermione offered. "I know a charm that'll stop them from ripping your clothes."
She cast the charm and he unfolded his wings, which melted through his top but didn't rip the material.
"Very nice." Theo nodded.
The three made their way downstairs, thankful to see that the common room was empty of everyone but Ron who was waiting patiently for Hermione. Ron had decided to go as a muggle knight from the Medieval period. He wore dark grey pants and shirt, with knee high boots and fake metal shoulder pads. It was all complete with a silver eye mask.
Hermione smiled happily and went over to greet him. He admired her dress and mumbled something about how amazing she looked. The comment made her blush lightly, but also caused her to smile happily. She had straightened her hair and let it fall over her shoulders freely. All together she looked amazing.
Behind the couple Theo made a fake gagging noise and Harry rolled his eyes while elbowing him. "You and Sin are worse." He hissed.
Theo sniffed in fake arrogance before lifting his nose in the air. "Sin and I are not to be compared to that Weasel."
"He's my friend."
"So? I make fun of my friends all the time." Theo flashed Harry a charming grin, which was rewarded with an eye roll.
Ron finally looked past his girlfriend and caught sight of Harry and Theo. "Bloody hell mate, what have you…"
Harry blushed and tried to cover his body as best as he could. "It was Theo's idea." He mumbled.
Theo smirked proudly. "Don't I just have the best taste?"
Hermione giggled. "They won't know that it's you, Harry."
The Gryffindor boy nodded, still nervous, and followed his friends out. The walk to the Great Hall consisted of Harry trying to pull his shirt down over his exposed skin. This, much to his horror, did not work.
Theo winked at Harry. "You look good, don't worry."
Harry just gulped uneasily and continued to walk with the others. Almost everyone was already in the enchanted hall and their voices mingled with the music overhead. The Harpy and mate gaped as they walked in, the two Prefects only smiled smugly.
The Hall looked amazing. Like during the Yule Ball it had been transformed by the decorators. There were black, orange and yellow streamers and balloons draped around the walls while dry ice in certain spots made it look like fog was rising from the floor. Live decorations included bats and a few varieties of harmless spiders which Ron avoided. The ceiling had been spelled to look dark and spooky: lightning cracked randomly and thunder growled. The ghosts floated around, talking cheerfully; the dark atmosphere familiar to them. Even the candles had been transformed into decorative rotive hey had changed the candles to decretive designs, goblins, dragons and bats among them.
The students contributed to the theme as well. Everyone was dressed in costume and masked; hardly anyone was recognizable except those who had odd outstanding features such as Ron, who hadn't charmed his hair, and Colin, who refused to be separated from his camera for any length of time.
Even Dumbledore was dressed for the occasion in a dark red shimmering robe with a gold lion mask. He was cheerfully talking to McGonagall, who was dressed in bottle blue with a cat eye mask.
While Theo searched the crowd for his mate and Harry gaped at the spectacle in fascinated horror, Ron and Hermione disappeared into the crowd. Ron wasted no time in dragging her out on the dance floor that had been constructed in the center.
"What do you wanna' do?" Harry asked, looking around. Some people were eyeing him up and he tried to ignore them.
"Have fun." Theo grinned, grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him into the crowd.
Harry wanted to groan aloud but knew it wouldn't help, when Theo was determined, he went for it. The Slytherin dragged him onto the packed dance floor and Harry's stomach tightened.
"Just relax." Theo shouted. "Have fun and stop being so uptight."
Harry was going to argue that he was not uptight but a particularly loud and popular song, judging by the screams, came on and Harry was forced into an awkward dance.
Theo laughed and grabbed his arms. "Loosen up." He suggested.
Harry took a deep breath and relaxed his muscles. He followed Theo's lead and moved along with the beat. It became increasingly easy after he realized nobody was watching and he wasn't, all things considered, too bad.
After a while the two broke away and took a seat at one of the tables, laughing so hard their ribs hurt.
"This isn't too bad." Theo said once they'd calmed down. "I haven't even had any alcohol yet."
Harry shook his head, checking his wings quickly. They were unharmed, although a little ruffled. "So where do you think Sin and Draco are?"
Theo shrugged. "Don't know. Probably be easy to pick them out. Besides, your wings are like burning beacons, so easy to spot." The Slytherin stood, grinning, his eyes sparkling. "Come on, we won't find them sitting down."
Harry, reluctant to follow, headed back out with Theo. This time the Slytherin lead him out into the courtyard, which was decorated similarly to the Hall. There were decorated trees and bats flying overhead. A few students were sitting and standing around, talking together.
Arms wrapped around Theo and he grinned, turning around to face Sin. "Oh Merlin, what the hell are you?"
Sin wore black leather pants that had rips below the knees with a couple of rips above while one of the pant leg looked like it was torn off so it reached up to his ankle while the other was dragged out by his heel. That was the only piece of clothing he wore since he had black bandages wrapped around his chest and arms like he had gotten into a fight. He had also splattered fake blood that looked real on the bandages and his body. His feet were wrapped in the black bandages as well. His mask was black leather was also ripped up and splattered with blood.
"I'm a Demon." Sin smirked.
Theo made a face. "That isn't real blood, is it?"
"Nope." Sin kissed Theo gently. "You look good."
Theo smiled. "Thanks. I guess you don't look so bad yourself."
While they had their moment Harry looked past at them and smiled as he recognized Draco.
Draco moved around his cousin and his mate and smiled down at Harry. "You look beautiful."
Draco himself wore black leather pants that clung in all the right places, but were still loose enough to move around in like a pair of jeans. The top he wore was a sleeveless leather shirt that showed off his abs. There were rips in random places on the shirt so it would show hints of chest, back, and stomach while the sides was like a corset with black silk crossing each other to keep the shirt together. The leather boots were calf high with numerous of buckles and belts and he wore black leather wristbands that had buckles as well. His outfit was complete with a mask that was black with an outline of a silver dragon on it.
Harry smiled brightly, his Harpy-self purring in delight. "Thanks, you look good."
Draco took Harry's hand, kissing it gallantly. "May I have the honor of escorting you tonight?"
Harry grinned. "Of course."
"Aww," Sin cooed, "you guys are so adorable."
Theo hit him lightly, pulling him away. "You're so mean." He laughed as they disappeared back inside.
Draco shook his head. "Those two are as crazy as each other."
Harry laughed. "They're definitely meant for each other."
Draco smiled and laced their fingers together, leaning down to kiss Harry gently on the lips. When they pulled away he smirked, looking Harry over, his eyes resting on the pendant. "By the way, love the outfit, very un-you."
"Blame Theo." Harry moaned. "He knows no boundaries of decency."
Draco chuckled and lead him back inside. People turned to look at them, their eyes drawn to the Harpy, envious eyes that glared jealously from the winged creature to his mate. Like
on their date, Draco pulled him close, wrapping his arms around his waist while Harry's snaked around his neck.
Slow music started up and Draco smiled sadly at his Harpy. "Why can't things always be like this?"
The Harpy in Harry protested against his mate's sadness and Harry shrugged. "It'll get better; I just need to destroy Voldermort." He smiled weakly.
Draco kissed him softly, his grip on Harry tightening. "I love you."
Harry's heart skipped a beat and he smiled brightly, his Harpy-self going ballistic. "I love you too." Harry whispered breathlessly.
Nobody realized just who the couple was exactly, although Aura and Dumbledore smiled knowingly at the two Harpies and their mates.
As the sky grew darker and the ball started to draw to a close, Harry pulled away from Draco, who looked down at him questioningly.
"I've gotta go do something, I'll be back." Harry promised, kissing Draco's cheek and headed back through the crowd.
His heart thumped determinedly as he made his way towards the library. He unlocked the door and slipped inside, locking it behind him. Everything was eerily silent, Harry treaded lightly across the floor, scared any loud sounds would carry to someone's ear and his presence and plan would be revealed.
He made his way to the back corner of the library and fell onto his hands and knees, reaching under the seat and muttering a silent spell to unstuck the book. It fell into his hands, the book of consorting with Life and Death.
Harry had been studying it for days. He knew nearly all of it from back to front. His hands shaking, the young Harpy placed the book on the table, flipping to the needed page.
Condita a Tracto Nex
"Making a deal with death." Harry muttered, reading the familiar words, the page he had worked hard on the most. "Bringing back a soul of a loved one and bargaining." Taking a deep breath Harry pulled out his wand, which he had kept with his book, and began to read aloud, the Latin words uncomfortably familiar, Theo's warning pounding in his ears.
"EGO dico super Nex , sic EGO may planto a professio , unus animus pro alius, unus animus ut vita , unus animus ut nex. Adveho Nex."
Around him the air bended, light faded and shifted. His head spun and his body screamed out, his wings stretching out to their full length as his Harpy-self screeched in protest of his unnatural spell. Then Harry was falling into nothing and everything began to fade…
Carissa: Thanks for the review! It's always great to have positive feedback, thanks. I'll try to in later chapters. Thanks and please review!
James: Thanks for the review! Thanks, I'm glade you enjoyed it, maybe some of those possible stories will come up. I'll make Harry a little more dominating, he is really OOC, mainly because he's true character doesn't really fit…You'll just have to wait and see! And that's awesome; I live a few hours away from Sydney. Please review! Much thanks!
To everyone, thanks and PLEASE REVIEW!
With love,
Harpy Wings.