Disclaimer: None of my work belongs to me, it is solely the property of the one and only J.K. Rowling and any other company which has the copyright of Harry Potter, including Warner Bros. Nothing here belongs to me; all the characters are J.K. Rowling's originally, though any new character not part of the Harry Potter series belongs to me.

Title: Always

Author: hpjkrowling4ever

Chapter Twenty-Six

Harry peeled open his eyes and shut them quickly again when the light trickled in from the curtains. He rolled over in the bed and sighed when he found that he was unable to go to sleep again. Sitting up, he crossed his legs underneath the heavy blanket and stared ahead, looking long and hard at the door in front of him.

What had happened? Harry had yet to fully absorb the extent of the changes in his life, and as his eyes accustomed themselves to the murky room, his thoughts sorted themselves out too.

He held the highest station in the Wizarding World, and one which had not been held for a very long time. However, with this honour it seemed like he was unable to participate in any form of politics; this rankled more than it should have. It was not that he did not trust Draco with his father's House and his godfather's House – he did – it was just that he had to hand over the reigns to those two Houses which meant the world to him, as they were the last link he had to his parents and his godfather. Harry rubbed his hand along his face. He had also been told what he had to do with his life, and losing that independence really shook him. Harry sighed again and leant back against the fluffy pillows behind him.

Lady Magic had made clear that he was subject to her every whim. Had it been worth it, summoning that alliance once more and lose everything that he had had control over, even down to what he wore? It was a fine line to walk, wondering if he should not have given in, and one that he did not particularly want to walk. He had to look on the bright side of things; after all, falling into darkness was never a good option.

Harry twisted around as much as he was able to and he looked at the beautiful tattoo imprinted on his back. It seemed like strands of white ivy had snaked down his back, and it moved with his every movement. Harry looked again at the dragon on his wrist and the Gryffindor crest on the other. All these marks in some way made him who he was, and to gain each one he had had to make a choice. And was that choice not what he hankered for most of all in his life? Being a servant to Lady Magic could not be such a bad thing – after all, she had given him the gift of his mate. Harry stroked the dragon on his wrist, and he felt Draco stir in the back of his mind.

Harry? His mate asked, and Harry sent back a feeling of calmness and peace. After a long moment, his door opened and Draco, wrapped tightly in a warm dressing gown, padded in.

"Harry, you're awake," Draco said in relief, making his way to Harry's bed. "You slept for a very long time."

"I suppose that my body was adjusting to all the changes that have been wrought onto it," Harry replied wryly, moving across the bed to make space for Draco. Draco shed his dressing gown and shuffled across the bed until he was lying against the pillows next to Harry. His hand sought Harry's under the blanket and once he had found it he held onto it tightly. "Did you change me?" he asked, referring to the fact that he was wearing only a pair of black pyjama trousers.

"Yes," Draco whispered, almost shyly. "I refused to let anyone else do so. We also needed your dress robes so that we could make more robes for you that fitted the requirements that you'd been given. That's also why we're back at Malfoy Manor. We needed a tailor to look through your clothes."

"What time is it?" Harry asked, looking around.

"Late afternoon. I told Mother what I thought you'd want and she will have made amendments to those requirements and also added some extra clothes to the list. She's been working all morning."

"She needn't have bothered," Harry murmured, embarrassed.

"Rubbish, Harry. It's important that you dress well now."

"All these changes, Draco." Harry closed his eyes and leant his head against Draco's shoulder. Draco kissed the top of Harry's head. "They scare me."

"Oh Harry," Draco breathed, and he moved so that he was straddling Harry's hips. His hands rose to Harry's face and his thumbs rubbed his cheeks ever so gently. "I don't know what to say."

"You're not…you're not going to leave or anything, are you? I've just shoved a whole lot of responsibility onto your shoulders and the scrutiny I'll be under is unbelievable. I'll be so stressed I won't know what to do with myself –"

"Stop there, mon amour." Draco's hands never stopped their stroking of Harry's face, and his eyes stared at him with deadly seriousness. "If I was only your mate for the honour of it, I would not be here now. I know how much stress you're going to be under, and I will be here at the end of the day to wrap you in my wings and make sure that you're eating and sleeping enough. I will never make a decision for the Houses of Black and Potter without your express consent first. Participating in politics is vastly different from expressing views about politics. Mon amour, I am your mate and I am here for better or for worse. Never shut yourself off from me simply because you're scared I'm going to leave you. I will never leave you."

Harry let out a long, steady breath and bowed his head. Draco kissed his forehead and let his lips linger there before he pulled away and wrapped Harry in his arms. After a moment, his wings burst out from his back and joined his arms around Harry. In the darkness of Draco's wings, Harry felt his worries melt away and the invisible tension that had been weighing on him seeped out, leaving him feeling lighter.

"I wasn't aware that I was so worried."

"Let me help you then, Harry. Let me carry some of that weight. Merlin knows that it's only going to get heavier."

Harry let out a rather unnerved chuckled, and Draco joined him a few seconds later.

The very first hurdle that Harry had to overcome was the matter of his clothes for the day. Draco gave him a top to put on, and they both made their way to the Receiving Room of Malfoy Manor, which seemed to have been turned into a massive dressing room. A multitude of different shades of white and black were spread across the chairs, and a rather harried looking tailor and some assistants were hanging up some robes, adding to an already rather large collection of them. Harry did not want to think of the cost of those robes.

"Harry!" Narcissa Malfoy cried out as soon as she saw him. Harry watched with growing dread as she walked over to him and Draco with a determined look on her face.

I can't escape this, can I? Harry asked Draco, who smirked and shook his head smugly. It would be a lovely experience to watch someone else be subjected to his mother's dressing fanaticism.

Narcissa led Harry over to the tailor, who brightened when he saw his subject. He snapped his fingers and his tape measures immediately rushed over to him and started encircling Harry to the point where Harry felt dizzy. As the quill following the tape measures around started writing things down, the clothes that were hung up started adjusting themselves accordingly. Harry was astonished when, after a moment of concentration, he could see the strands of magic, bronze magic, linking the quill, the tape measures, the clothes and the tailor's wand together. He projected the image into Draco's mind and heard him gasp.

Dear Merlin, Harry, that's beautiful. I didn't know you could do that! Draco exclaimed, ignoring his mother's curious look. Draco approached Harry tentatively, and hovered just beyond the reach of the tape measures. Harry continued projecting into Draco's mind, and the Veela's eyes kept moving between the tape measures, the clothes, the tailor's wand and the quill. Harry was just as fascinated as Draco was, and then he wondered what would happen if he tried to tamper with the bronze strands of magic.

Wait! Draco almost yelled into his mind, twitching slightly behind Harry. Wait until the tailor's done; we can practice this somewhere else. You don't want Mother on the warpath because you messed up the tailor's job.

Harry swallowed nervously again, and glanced over at Narcissa, who was examining the black, white and silver robes and talking to the assistants.

Narcissa then brought over a long black robe with bell sleeves trimmed with silver and a collar trimmed with silver. She handed it to Harry, and all of the tape measures stopped around him. He held the rich, heavy velvet in his hands and almost gasped at the wealth that this robe represented.

"Dear Merlin," Harry breathed, rubbing his hands along the robe. "They're beautiful."

Narcissa and the tailor smiled, both looking very self-satisfied.

"Try them on, then!" the tailor squeaked, gesturing for Harry to go behind the partition that had been set up in a corner of the Receiving Room.

While Harry was changing, Draco started up a running commentary in his head to his mate about the other clothes hanging up.

There are various formal robes here, and some casual winter robes like the ones you're putting on. There are also some more Muggle clothes here, suits and things, Draco said, running his hand along the clothes. His mother had done an excellent job.

Timidly, Harry made his way around the partition, feeling the robes move with him. The robes he was wearing were fitted exactly to him, and he could feel it with every movement he made. They were comfortable as well as being warm, and Harry had never felt more handsome in simple robes before.

As soon as Draco caught sight of his mate, his commentary went silent. He walked over to Harry and ran his hand along his mate's sleeves, and then looked into his eyes. Harry's green eyes were sparkling; he could tell that he was having a rather powerful effect on Draco. Draco gave Harry a half-hearted glare; too busy looking at the robes that Harry was wearing. The black had tinges of green, but not enough that they did not fit in with the requirements that Lady Magic had demanded. The silver trimmings added an edge of elegance to the simple casual robes.

"They're perfect," Harry said, looking around Draco to the tailor and Narcissa. "If the rest of the clothes are like this, then I love them." When Narcissa moved to pay, Harry stepped forwards, his mouth open. Draco stopped him.

Harry, let her pay. It's the least she can do for you, after bringing up the Malfoy name as much as you did yesterday. And you're my mate.

Harry snorted, but relaxed.

"Where's my staff?" he asked, looking around. "I remember leaving it lying around or something."

"It disappeared when you fell asleep, Harry," Draco answered. He made a gesture to Narcissa, who gave her permission to Draco's unspoken question, and pulled Harry out of the Receiving Room so that they could go and eat some food. "I assume that if you call for it, it will appear."

Harry nodded. He had already assumed that when Draco told him that the staff had disappeared.

"There are a few things that we need to organise, Draco," Harry said, as they walked down the grand stairs into the smaller, more comfortable dining room. "I need to find some tutors for Runes and Arithmancy, and we need to draw up a plan, a coherent one which will help us find Voldemort and finally rid ourselves of him. I'd also like to pay the spirit of Malfoy Manor a visit."

"Why?" Draco asked, pulling out a chair for Harry. As Harry sat down, some food appeared on the table and after piling his plate high and eating a few mouthfuls of his toast, Harry answered.

"Because if anyone's going to know how being the servant of Lady Magic has affected my mind, he will. It's vitally important that I understand how much Lady Magic has tampered with my mind so that she can speak into my mind directly. You could hear her, couldn't you?" Harry asked. Draco nodded, and sipped at some of his coffee. "Well I don't want her to be able to listen in on our conversations, or be able to see our moments together." Draco growled at the thought, and Harry smirked triumphantly at him. "Since Malfoy Manor looked into my mind before, I want him to do it again. I also want him to teach me how to use that staff. No one's used a staff since the times of Merlin, I don't think."

Draco sighed and sank down in his chair. He ran a hand through his hair, and thought about all the reasons why in Merlin's name Lord Voldemort had to have this unnatural interest in his mate. All he wanted to do was to kill Lord Voldemort with his bare hands for causing his mate this pain. Draco gave Harry a tired smile, sending some supportive feelings down their bond. Harry tilted his head to the side.

"We're in for a nice, interesting few days, then," Draco clarified, cradling his mug of coffee as if it was protection, against his chest.

Harry continued eating his food, a smile skirting around the edges of his lips.

A/N: Okay, I know that stuff didn't really happen here, but I needed a pause for Harry, for him to gather his thoughts. Things are going to pick up soon, as Harry hinted, so please keep reading.